Economics, Not Security, Central Issue for Border Towns

Thursday, 16 February 2012 05:25

As mainstream media and political discourse would testify, the border is a dangerous place. But politicians rarely consider the actual citizens who live next to the border when drafting policy. Consider the Feb. 10 session of the Nogales City Council that brought four U.S. Congressmen down to the border a breakthrough.

Legislation revolving around the border is often extremely polarized by partisanship bent on appeasing party beliefs, so when Congressional Representatives Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), Mike Honda (D-Calif.) and Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas) attended Friday's city council meeting in Nogales, Ariz. and listened to what local residents had to say, it matters.

"Our community enjoys a lifestyle that is almost free from violent crime," said Santa Cruz County Sheriff Tony Estrada. "We have the highest ratio of law enforcement personnel to residents in the country and there are about 1,000 Border Patrol agents serving in Santa Cruz County, more than ten times the number from just three decades ago -- regardless of the rhetoric that we hear, it is not raining bullets here in Nogales."

In 1992, there were approximately 4,000 border patrol agents, by last year there were well over 21,000, 18,506 of whom are stationed on the southwest border. A fifth of these agents are in the Tucson sector, or well over 4,000 making the Tucson sector including border towns, Nogales, Sasabe and Naco, the most active area along the U.S. - Mexico border.

In the same time frame, the budget of the U.S. Border Patrol agency has grown from $326 million to $3.5 billion, an increase that has fostered some positive changes along border towns.

According to a study done by USA Today, murder, rape and robbery rates are significantly lower in towns within 100 miles of the border than statewide averages, and that violent crime along the border has been decreasing for years.

"Nogales is a very safe place because you don't just have police and sheriffs you got FBI, DEA, Customs, Border Patrol, and a bunch of undercover agents," said Luis Garcia, resident of Nogales. "Sure there's not much to do at night but its one of the safest places I've lived."

There is strong evidence to support the theory that an increased amount of law enforcement personnel around the border has a direct relation to decreasing crime rates. Although there have been vast increases in personnel, since 2005, apprehensions of immigrants has declined sharply, as much as 80 percent in some areas.

According to Brent Cagen, media relations employee for the Border Patrol, decline in apprehensions is a multi-faceted product of a great number of factors, some of which include border fence construction, increase in agents and surveillance technology.

While our border has become safer, the residents of border towns have become poorer. According to census statistics of Santa Cruz County, which includes the Arizona cities of Nogales and Tubac has a poverty rate of 25 percent, almost twice the national average and a per capita income of $16,209. The national average is $27,334.

Analysis of neighboring border towns Yuma, Ariz. and Douglas, Ariz. reveal similar statistics. Well below the national average in per capita income and well above the national average for poverty. In Douglas, 34 percent of the town lives under the poverty level, almost three times the national average.

While the Arizona side of the border has undoubtedly grown safer, the tightening of the border has had unintended consequences on the economy of these border towns. What many call the dark side of safer borders is becoming increasingly clear. America has paid for its safety with the economic health of its border towns.

Congressman Grijalva, who's district stretches from Nogales to Yuma, over two-thirds of the entire Arizona border with Mexico, organized the group of congressmen to travel to Nogales this past week in hopes of educating congress on the real issues on the border, specifically economical.

One of the keynote speakers at the city council meeting was economic advisor Terry Shannon, Jr. who maintained that our borders could both be safe and economically viable. Shannon believes that the key lies in equal attention towards U.S. Customs and Border Protection as is being paid to U.S. Border Patrol.

"This economic vitality is being jeopardized at ports of entry across the southern border due to inefficiencies," said Shannon. "Insufficient staffing of Customs and Border Protection officers, new inspection procedures, and outdated infrastructure hampers the flow of legitimate people and goods that drive our economy."

While there has been a meteoric rise in budget and staffing of U.S. Border Patrol, increases have been modest for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which controls the flow of people and goods across the border.

"Some Border Security plans proposed in Congress call for an additional 5,000 Border Patrol agents while only calling for 500 officers for our ports of entry," said Shannon. "This number allocated across all ports of entry would not begin to solve CBP’s staffing shortage problems."

In 2005, 34 million people crossed through all of Arizona's border ports, in 2010 that number was down to 23 million. Thirty percent fewer people means 30 percent less money from tourism and shopping. This is where the economic inequities of the border towns start to be revealed, within the retardation of movement between the U.S. and Mexico.

"People who used to come over for the day with $20 dollars to spend, don't come anymore," said Garcia. "The whole town, the whole county depends on that money, and they're not getting it anymore."

According to Shannon the trade between the U.S. and Mexico amounts to $22 billion dollars per year and Mexican visitors to the U.S. spend around $2.6 billion in Arizona each year.

Decreasing trade has been a direct result of longer wait times at ports of entry, inefficient search techniques and staffing according to Shannon. "What I'm asking for is balance between the two agencies." Said Shannon, speaking to the congressmen about the inequities between staffing in Border Patrol and Customs divisions.

With decreasing violence along border towns, security has now become the secondary issue. The citizens of these towns need their economy back. Perhaps with a few more U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents, residents of these towns can benefit from increased trade again.

For more on Nogales and the border consider these links of border town residents and photography from Santa Cruz County.

Living on the Border - Part One: Luis Garcia, the photographer.

Living on the Border - Part Two: A border photo essay of Santa Cruz County

Living on the Border - Part Three: Karl W. Hoffman, the documentarian.

Written by Brett Haupt You are reading Economics, Not Security, Central Issue for Border Towns articles