Border securityDHS secretary says El Paso border is secure

DHS declares the El Paso - Juarez border is secure // Source: shu.edu

During a press conference in El Paso, Texas on Tuesday, DHS secretary Janet Napolitano highlighted improvements in border security, as many  in Congress argue that the path to immigration reform begins with making sure the U.S.-Mexico border is secure.

The El Paso Times reports that  the visit by Napolitano came just days after El Paso was ranked the “safest big city” in annual rankings by CQ Press, a research publishing firm.

“Whenever people tell me that the border is unsafe, I say, ‘What about El Paso?’,” Napolitano said at a news conference in the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Air and Marine hangar.

Napolitano also met with Mayor John Cook and local law enforcement leaders.

“We had a really good round-table discussion with Secretary Napolitano and emphasized the fact that, in our opinion, the border is already secure,” Cook said after the meeting. “I can only speak for the El Paso sector. We feel the El Paso sector is secure at this time.”

When asked about the concerns of ranchers in the rural areas who have complained about illegal immigration and drug running, Napolitano was quick to address the issue.

“We have more Border Patrol agents, boots on the ground than ever before,” Napolitano responded. “Number two, we are using more technology as a force multiplier than ever before — different types of sensors, multiple vehicle radar systems, forward-operating bases. These are bases located right on the border.”

Napolitano also told the press that air cover around the border is at the highest level it has even been and unmanned aerial vehicles play a big part of that.

Representative Beto O’Rourke (D-El Paso) agrees with Napolitano that the border in the city is secure.

“I agree with the secretary (Napolitano) and President Obama that we cannot allow comprehensive immigration reform to be derailed by those that refuse to see the reality of the border,” O’Rourke said in a statement.

Senator John Cornyn, (R-Texas) is not convinced that the border in the state is secure.

“I hope Secretary Napolitano returns to Washington and relays to the president and Senate Democrats what Texans already know: Our border is not secure and the federal government has a long way to go,” the senator said in a statement before Napolitano’s visit to El Paso.

A day before Napolitano was in El Paso, she visited San Diego, the city  ranked second by CQ Press as the city with the lowest crime rate.

“It’s imperative we modernize the immigration system,” Napolitano said at the press conference. “Now, there’s been some insistence that an overhaul of our immigration laws must wait until the border is secure.

“That argument not only ignores the unprecedented gains we’ve made in border security, it suffers from a fundamental flaw,” Napolitano added. “The fundamental flaw is that it somehow says that border security is unrelated with what we do with interior enforcement.”

Napolitano also said that just because a section of the border has been declared secure, there will still be incidences of illegal crossings or crimes committed around the border and that security on the border is just a small part of a big picture.

“It’s enforcement at the border and the interior of the country,” Napolitano told reporters. “And streamlining the visa process and dealing with those in the country illegally but that have committed no crime beyond that. And recognizing the critical role that trade between Mexico and the U.S has for jobs, particularly on border states like Texas.”