It's About Time

[biku324]

So; Mexico and the Trump admin cut a deal for the Mexican NG to put 10k soldiers on our border to supplement those already there to try to stop drug trafficking and illegal immigration.

The BIG deal is we agreed to work to stop/slow weapons trafficking from the US to Mexico. This means suddenly we are going to need to start checking southbound vehicles at Ports of Entry and also clandestine southbound smugglers between ports. This will require substantially more workforce, as we only check northbound traffic now.Get ready to hear sad stories about poor Joe or Jane in jail in Mexico for having a forgotten gun or rounds in their vehicles while traveling.

On Mexico's soldiers .... this same deployment to the border started in the mid-90s and has ebbed and flowed since. Expect to hear of Mexican troops making incursion into the US; the border is still not marked all that well in many places in rough desert areas. However, they do not have the same limitations on law enforcement our military has.

In the mid-90s, a mid-level trafficker for the Sandoval trafficking family named Cheveto Sandoval was loitering in Palomas, Fronteras, Chihuahua. He was arranging drug flow, meeting drivers, etc. He was sampling some of his wares, and since Palomas had minimal law enforcement, he developed an attitude of invincibility. At that time Mexican Army units rotated through ports of entry to supplement (and watch) Mexican Customs. While Cheveto had compromised the prior unit, he assumed he could do the same with a newly arrived unit - he started screaming at a lieutenant in the Plaza. The LT simply responded with (only) a 3-shot burst, then ordered the body be left on the Plaza as a lesson on 'respeto.'

 

[swsig]

I watch an interesting documentary program on The Discovery Channel called Contraband: Seized at the Border, about the activities of Customs and Border Protection officers at several crossings on the Texas - Mexico border. They do check selected southbound traffic, though not as thoroughly as northbound. Southbound checks are often based on intelligence about a certain vehicle, and they do find weapons.

My observation is that the CBP people are overwhelmed, and I agree that a lot more of them are needed to effectively deal with both northbound and southbound traffic.

 

[s&wchad]

A one month delay in the tariff, with reevaluation in a month.

The Dow regained almost 500 points since the announcement.

That was quick!

 

[biku324]

I watch an interesting documentary program on The Discovery Channel called Contraband: Seized at the Border, about the activities of Customs and Border Protection officers at several crossings on the Texas - Mexico border. They do check selected southbound traffic, though not as thoroughly as northbound. Southbound checks are often based on intelligence about a certain vehicle, and they do find weapons.

My observation is that the CBP people are overwhelmed, and I agree that a lot more of them are needed to effectively deal with both northbound and southbound traffic.

All 3 NM ports and most AZ ports check nothing southbound unless, as you pointed out, they have intel.

The overwhelming majority of fetanyl/heroin/meth/cocaine comes north in commercial traffic. Last data I saw was that DHS had capacity to check 2-3% of northbound cargo trucks. 'Overwhelmed' is exactly right.

 

[Rudi]

We need our other good buddy, the chi coms, to stop sending the **** into Mexico as well.

 

[biku324]

But they are not Mexico and could trade war us into serious economic trouble, hence not much action toward them.

 

[dockmurgw]

I wonder if our gun manufacturers are burning up the Presidents phone line, asking him to negotiate an end to Mexico's lawsuit against them in exchange for clamping down on our criminal gun traffickers.

 

[Doug M.]

The capacity problems and porosity are not new. If one has an affection for certain music of the 70s, "Henry" by the New Riders of the Purple Sage tells of such.

 

[Bald1]

But But But ………. Tariffs!!!!!!! It’s the end of the world.

 

[biku324]

Relations with Mexico and the issue of the SW land border in no way resemble the Canadian border. The biggest thing in this agreement is us trying to stop the flow of our weapons to cartels. That is LONG overdue.

 

[ladder13]

Latest news is we are going to get Ukraines rare minerals as payback for our efforts.
Yes, moving at warp speed. Enjoy the ride.

I know that breaks some hearts here.

 

[Tom S.]

What do you mean the boarder isn't well marked - it's a nice thick blue line on my map!

 

[biku324]

In my NMSP days I made more than one accidental armed incursion into Mexico between Monuments 40 and 72. Same-same for the Mexican military - these were resolved in the field by a smile and a handshake.

 

[Bald1]

Relations with Mexico and the issue of the SW land border in no way resemble the Canadian border. The biggest thing in this agreement is us trying to stop the flow of our weapons to cartels. That is LONG overdue.

Sure they do. You’re over complicating things. We wanted something. We threatened tariffs. We got what we wanted. And we’ll get what we want at northern border. And with every other country that’s been sucking on the American teet. You want to talk about tariffs costing us money. Let’s talk about how much foreign aid and military protection cost us. I’m tired of the lib talking points. They don’t hold up.

 

[biku324]

We got little from Mexico that they weren't already providing. They'll add more military, but our costs to combat arms trafficking will be very substantial.

International relations are indeed complicated.

 

[Bald1]

10,000 ADDITIONAL troops is not nothing. And Remain in Mexico will be in acted. It’s all part of the deal. But clearly it’s not “your guy” doing it so it won’t be acknowledged.

 

[biku324]

10,000 Mexican National Guard and 'Remain in Mexico' have been done before. Both will help a bit for a while, until traffickers figure out alternatives, but neither is new, and those recycled programs will fail, as we keep buying fentanyl and hiring cheap, illegal labor.

No president can fix this. Congress could help a lot.