Unprecedented US-Mexico Border Security Cooperation
Now in the last stretch of her tenure as Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, set out for meetings with Mexican officials this week to discuss increased US-Mexico border security cooperation. She was accompanied by U.S. Customs and Border Protection Acting Commissioner Thomas Winkowski, Assistant Secretary of International Affairs Alan Bersin, Ambassador to Mexico Anthony Wayne, and legal advisor John Sandweg.
They began Tuesday in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, across the border from Brownsville, Texas, where they met with Mexican Secretary of the Interior Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong, other members of the Mexican Security Cabinet, local law enforcement officials, and the South Texas/Tamaulipas Border Violence Prevention Group. Secretaries Napolitano and Chong signed an agreement on a US-Mexico Cross Border Security Communications Network. It establishes the framework for increased intelligence sharing and a more efficient response by law enforcement and public safety on both sides of the border. They also announced the inauguration of a program of coordinated patrols between the US Border Patrol and Mexican Federal Police along the US-Mexico border. In view of the legal and human rights challenge of the increased flow of US-bound migrants from other countries across Mexico´s southern border, Napolitano and Osorio Chong discussed the intention to strengthen that border as well. Though they did not provide specifics, this objective will include a critical focus on regional economic development in relatively poor southern Mexico.
After their border meetings, the US team proceeded to Mexico City to meet with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, as well as Secretary Osorio Chong and the Security Cabinet. Peña Nieto affirmed Mexico´s commitment to the strengthened bilateral real-time communication and coordinated border patrols.
As the US legislative debate on immigration reform continues to return to questions of border security, this new level of binational cooperation among security personnel could be key to achieving real security results on the US-Mexico border. Representatives from both countries hope that a safer border will be a more dynamic one that allows for mutually beneficial growth in trade and tourism. US lawmakers should also rejoice at the focus on strengthening Mexico´s southern border. Firming up Mexico’s border with Guatemala and Belize will ultimately diminish the flow of undocumented migrants, trengthening the rule of law throughout Mexico and along the US southern border where Mexican as well as non-Mexican would-be immigrants are stuck in a dangerous holding pattern.
As Secretary Napolitano stated: “The United States and Mexico have taken unprecedented steps in recent years to deepen our cooperation along our shared border. We are committed to working together to support economic competitiveness by creating an environment in which our citizens and businesses continue to feel safe and secure, while reducing violence and increasing security.”
Acknowledging the reality of this increased US-Mexico collaboration should help the immigration debate move forward, since its results will strengthen a common border that catches security threats and expedites beneficial trade and travel.
