[Paleopsych] CNN: Border emergency declared in New Mexico

[Lynn D. Johnson, Ph.D.]

This morning, Wall Street Journal weighed in:

http://www.opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=110007108

Their take: Democrats may have an issue against republicans that will resonate with the ordinary people who fear their culture and jobs are disappearing. 
Lynn



Premise Checker wrote:

> Border emergency declared in New Mexico - Aug 12, 2005
> http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/08/12/newmexico/
>
> [On the other hand, this was not reported in the New York Times, 
> either. Google News returns only ten sources for this. Lou Dobbs 
> interviewed the governor last night.
>
> [So how *do* you distinguish good from bogus information on the 
> Internet?]
>
> Governor says area 'devastated' by human and drug smuggling
>
>    (CNN) -- New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson declared a state of emergency
>    Friday in four counties along the Mexican border that he said have
>    been "devastated" by crimes such as the smuggling of drugs and illegal
>    immigrants.
>
>    The declaration said the region "has been devastated by the ravages
>    and terror of human smuggling, drug smuggling, kidnapping, murder,
>    destruction of property and the death of livestock. ...
>
>    "[It] is in an extreme state of disrepair and is inadequately funded
>    or safeguarded to protect the lives and property of New Mexican
>    citizens."
>
>    New Mexico shares 180 miles of border with the Mexican state of
>    Chihuahua.
>
>    "The situation is out of hand," Richardson said Friday night on CNN,
>    noting that one 54-mile stretch is particularly bad.
>
>    The Mexican government issued a statement in which it acknowledged the
>    problems along the border, but said it continues to make consistent
>    efforts to target them along with U.S. authorities.
>
>    It said some of Richardson's views stem from "generalizations that do
>    not correspond to the spirit of cooperation and understanding that are
>    required for dealing with problems of common concern along the
>    border."
>
>    Richardson's declaration makes $750,000 in state emergency funds
>    available to Dona Ana, Luna, Grant and Hidalgo counties.
>
>    Richardson pledged an additional $1 million in assistance for the
>    area, his office said in a news release.
>
>    He said on CNN that the funds will be used to hire additional law
>    enforcement personnel and pay officers overtime.
>
>    In announcing the state of emergency, Richardson -- a Democrat who
>    served in President Clinton's Cabinet -- criticized the "total
>    inaction and lack of resources from the federal government and
>    Congress" in helping protect his state's residents along the border.
>
>    "There's very little response from the Border Patrol," he said on CNN.
>    "They're doing a good job, but they don't have the resources."
>
>    The governor announced the move after a helicopter and ground tour of
>    the border near Columbus, New Mexico, the statement said.
>
>    He said on CNN that he "saw the trails where these illegal routes take
>    place" as well as fenced areas along the border where the fence is
>    "literally nonexistent."
>
>    According to Richardson's statement announcing the declaration,
>    "Recent developments have convinced me this action is necessary --
>    including violence directed at law enforcement, damage to property and
>    livestock, increased evidence of drug smuggling, and an increase in
>    the number of undocumented immigrants."
>
>    He called on Mexico to "bulldoze the abandoned town of Las Chepas,
>    which is directly over the border from Columbus."
>
>    The statement went on to say that "Las Chepas is a notorious staging
>    and resting area for those who smuggle drugs and immigrants into the
>    United States."
>
>    Some of the pledged funds will be used to create a field office for
>    the New Mexico Office of Homeland Security to focus specifically on
>    the border.
>
>    There will also be new efforts to protect livestock in the area near
>    Columbus, "along a favorite path for illegal immigration where a
>    number of livestock have been stolen and killed," the statement said.
>
>    Richardson said he wanted residents of the four counties "to know my
>    administration is doing everything it can to protect them."
>
>    Alejandro Cano, secretary of industrial development for the Mexican
>    state of Chihuahua -- which borders New Mexico -- pledged to support
>    Richardson's efforts, the statement said.
>
>    Richardson told CNN he met with Mexican governors several weeks ago on
>    border security.
>
>    "My people on my side asked me to take this step, and I've done so
>    reluctantly," Richardson told CNN. "As governor, I have to protect the
>    people I represent."
>
>    He noted he is the nation's only Hispanic governor, and "we're a state
>    that's been very good to legal migrants. ... This action, I believe,
>    had to be taken."
>
>    The Mexican Foreign Ministry sent Richardson a letter Friday saying it
>    has requested that Mexican consuls in Albuquerque and El Paso, Texas,
>    meet "as soon as possible" with New Mexico officials "to promote
>    pertinent action by the authorities of both countries in the framework
>    of existing institutional mechanisms."
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