Chertoff: Military Ready If Drug Gangs Cross Border -- Houston ChronicleHomeland Security plan also accounts for possible border surge by refugees fleeing the violence.
WASHINGTON — Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Wednesday that federal SWAT teams and military units are prepared to respond to Mexican drug gangs in the event they cross the Rio Grande and confront U.S. law officers.
The forces, another department official said, also stand ready to manage any surge to the border by Mexicans panicked by the cartels’ violence.
Chertoff described his department’s contingency planning in broad terms in an interview with the Houston Chronicle. The other department official provided details on condition of anonymity.
Chertoff ordered development of the contingency plans last summer in response to escalating drug syndicate violence in Mexico.
More than 5,400 people were killed there last year in violence among several large gangs and Mexican security forces.
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My Comment: There are almost 500,000 Mexicans locked up in U.S. prisons today. This is a problem that is hitting us NOW.
Instead of planning for the future, Chertoff should take measures that will confront this growing epidemic right now .... and to support the measures that many have been calling for in stemming the flood of illegal refugees across the U.S. southern border.