Southwest Border Task Force Member Francis "Pancho" Kinny on The Lack Drug Violence On The Border

Once again NDN has gone west, and we have been fortunate enough to be able to sit down with local law enforcement and elected officials to chat about their views along the border.

Next up in our series is Francis “Pancho” Kinney is Vice President for HNTB Federal. Kinney was previously DHS Deputy Director of International Affairs. Kinney is a Border Trade Alliance Board Member and Infrastructure Committee Chair.

Pancho gives an excellent account of how the border has changed from a historical perspective regarding the buildup of military and border patrol agents. This is an important context to view the southwest border because it points to the fact that as the increase of personnel along the border has increased there has been a drop in violence.

He also notes that in terms of violence in recent years, there actually has not been much of a change in the level of violence because border communities have actually been safe. He also noted that while there is a strong presence of Mexican cartels in the United States, they do not act violently as their main goal is to sell drugs.

On the subject of kidnappings, Pancho was quick to point out that there is a problem, but it is not against American citizens. Rather it is an issues of human and drug traffickers kidnapping migrants and holding them for ransom until their families pay to get them back.  This is a lucrative trade for human smugglers as undocumented immigrants often fear going to the authorities and are more vulnerable to these types of crimes.

The full video is below: