The Failed Border Security Initiative – A Crackdown Compounded
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009 at 10:20 am | By: Radical Russ
96% of BEST drug seizures at the Mexican border are marijuana
(Counterpunch.org) DHS says the new initiative will be based on a “risk-based decision-making process.” All the various DHS initiatives that are part of its SBI umbrella program contend that they are “risk-based.” DHS contends it is protecting the homeland against “dangerous goods and people.”
In practice, however, its array of border control and immigration enforcement programs casts a wide net—with most of the arrests being immigration violators and drug law offenders rather than dangerous criminals. Marijuana leads, by far, the list of illegal drugs seized, even though there is widening consensus, even in the criminal justice community, that marijuana is not a “dangerous good,” especially when compared with cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamines.
The achievements of the existing [Border Enforcement Security Taskforce] BEST teams don’t support ICE declarations that their investigation and prosecutions are “risk-based.” The existing 95 members of BEST teams in the Southwest were responsible for 1,000 criminal arrests in 2008, but most of its arrests—1,256—were for administrative violations, presumably transgressions of immigration law. Marijuana seizures topped the list of drugs confiscated. BEST seized 42,400 lbs. of marijuana, 1,803 lbs. of cocaine, and 66 lbs. of heroin.
Do you feel safer now? When President Nixon declared the war on drugs, one of the first programs on the Mexican border was “Operation Intercept“. Then, too, the idea was that we’d stop those Mexicans from supplying weed to our youth. The massive crackdown was called off after Mexican officials complained about how badly this backed up legitimate business traffic at the border.
In this case, it’s not just business traffic inconveniences to worry about, it’s potential terrorists and explosive or radioactive materials we’re worried about. Every time border cops have to spend time busting truckloads of pot is an opportunity for a terrorist to go unnoticed.
