Napolitano: U.S. Cracking Down On Borders From North To South

by Christina Lovato, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service

Janet Napolitano, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said that the United States, Mexico and Canada all rely on trade but with the increase in illegal immigration and drug and weapon trafficking, it is time for more modern and safe border security.

Today Napolitano spoke at the 2009 Border Trade Alliance International Conference and addressed not only border security issues but trade issues.

The Border Trade Alliance is a grassroots non-profit that serves as a forum for participants to address key issues affecting trade and economic development in North America.

Before heading to Mexico City with President Obama last week, Napolitano visited several American southern states to address the escalating violence in Mexico and the rise in drug and weapon trafficking among Mexico and the U.S.

Since 2006, when Mexico’s President, Felipe Calderon increased his efforts against drug cartels, more than 10,000 people have been killed in Mexico due to drug-related violence.

Because of the increase in violence at the U.S.-Mexico border, President Obama has dispatched hundreds of federal agents along with high-tech surveillance gear and drug-sniffing dogs, to the Southwest border to help Mexico in it’s fight with drug cartels.

Napolitano said that the U.S. is engaged and focused on border issues not only from a security standpoint but from a trade standpoint.

“The two go together, we cannot separate one from the other,” she said.

Napolitano said the United States is not only working to end illegal immigration, drug and weapon trafficking and unlawful trade with the Mexican government but also with the Canadian government as well.

“We don’t want to appear to go heavy on the southern border and light on the northern border. We will have a balanced approach consistent with effective security for our entire country,” she said.

Napolitano said that the U.S. needs to respect the differences between the northern and southern borders.

“There needs to be a level of parity between the two borders,” she said.

But Napolitano said that the two borders share similar concerns regarding security, trade, illegal entry, and drug smuggling.

“We need to deal with circumstances on the ground. On the southern border it means protecting against drug cartel violence in combating illegal entry.... We’ve added more personal and technology. We’ve created a southbound strategy to stop the flow of guns and bulk cash into Mexico,” she said.

Napolitano said that the U.S. is providing new technology for Canada and have added five new U.S. Customs and Border Protection Marine and air branches, and 24 integrated border enforcement teams that include Canadian law enforcement officials.

“We don’t want to damage economic security in the name of homeland security,” she said.

Napolitano also spoke about the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, which will require all travelers coming into the U.S. from Canada or Mexico to present a passport or other document that denotes identity and citizenship.

“These are real borders, this is a real law, and I am really charged with implementing it and I take that charge very seriously,” she said.

Although the Mexican and Canadian borders are different in climate and geography, both share a common goal to have a “modern border, an efficient border and a safe and secure border for both people and for commerce," Napolitano said.

Get your bags packed for Cuba

by Christina Lovato, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service

“We ought not punish the American people. We ought to have the freedom to travel to Cuba and that is what the Freedom to Travel Act provides,” said Senator Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.)

Today in a press conference Senators Michael Enzi (R-Wyo.), Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) and Dorgan introduced The Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act, S. 428, which would end the current ban on travel by Americans to Cuba. The U.S. government allows Americans to travel almost anywhere in the world except for Cuba, the only exceptions are in time of war between the U.S. and Cuba or imminent danger to the public health or physical safety of U.S. travelers.

“Every time that we have brought up one of these bills there’s a downside to it. The downside to it is that Castro has always done something that really violated human rights and raised the ire of the American people who said ‘how can you possibly eliminate any of the restrictions on Cuba?’ Well that’s exactly why they do those things. They don’t want us to reduce any of those restrictions. They don’t want the inter- operation or inter-communication with American citizens.... That’s what we’re doing with this bill, we’re trying something just a little different and I think it will make a huge impact. It will change Cuba and it will change other of our policies,” said Senator Enzi.

Myron Brilliant, the Senior Vice President of International Affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said that this act would help elevate our relationships in Latin America and change perceptions of foreign policy around the world. “We have been a long standing opponent of the embargo with Cuba. We see the end of the travel ban as an important first step but ultimately what we want to see is also an end of the trade embargo.... You can continue to count on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to oppose unilateral economic sanctions, they do not wok,” he stated.

Senator Dorgan said that this issue is a failed policy that has failed for 50 years and he is confident that this Act will pass through Congress. “We hope for greater human rights in Cuba. We have no interest in the Castro government except to find a way to replace it at some point in the future so that the Cuban people have the freedoms they deserve,” concluded Dorgan.

“Cuba has consistently stood out as the one country in the western hemisphere that represses nearly all forms of political dissent..... The dismal state of human rights in Cuba has not improved since the hand over of power from Fidel to Raul Castro.... We urge the U.S. government to use this bill’s introduction to begin a broader re-evaluation and reform of its polices toward Cuba,” said Jose Miguel Vivanco, the Executive Director of the Americas Divison of Human Rights Watch.