TBC: President’s Budget Sacrifices Security at U.S.-Mexico Border Crossings

EAGLE PASS, Texas –

President Obama’s latest budget proposal, which offers only scant help to address the enormous problem of personnel and infrastructure at official U.S.-Mexico border crossings, is being greeted with disapproval by a coalition of Texas border mayors, county judges and economic development associations.
“Over the past three years, President Obama has repeatedly expressed his commitment to enhancing security and promoting legitimate trade along the U.S.-Mexico border. Unfortunately, his 2013 budget falls short of meeting that commitment,” said Eagle Pass Mayor and TBC Chairman Ramsey Cantu.
The budget proposal provides no specific allocation for construction at U.S.-Mexico border crossings – even though $6 billion is what the U.S. Government Accounting Office (GAO) says is needed to rebuild the crumbling border crossing infrastructure.  In addition,the budget proposes to hire 73 of 6,000 new U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspectors to confront new and emerging threats, such as drug smuggling, kidnappings and other cartel-related violence.
“We will never be able to get control of our border unless we have well-built, equipped and staffed border crossings that can interdict lawbreakers and facilitate legitimate trade and travel,” Cantu said.
Last month, TBC members released a new report asserting that the U.S. government has spent nearly $90 billion over the past decade to secure the Southwest border, with highly mixed results.
“Without Strategy: America’s Border Security Blunders Facilitate and Empower Mexico’s Drug Cartels” suggests that powerful criminal organizations continue to enjoy commercial success, smuggling more drugs than ever through legal border crossing even though apprehension rates are up to 90 percent for undocumented persons seeking to enter the country illegally.
The TBC report substantiated by former CBP Commissioner Alan Bersin shows that 90 percent of the illegaltraffickers are apprehended between the border crossings. Meanwhile, only 28 percent of “major violators” who attempt ...