U.S., 2 States in Border Control Rift

The federal government Tuesday defended efforts by the United States and Mexico to stem violence and drug trafficking at the border after decisions by two Southwestern states to declare an emergency in their border counties.

The governors of Arizona and New Mexico said the U.S. government’s inability to control crime and violence related to illegal immigration was forcing them to take matters into their own hands.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson had declared an emergency Friday in four counties that he said had been “devastated by the ravages and terror of human smuggling, drug smuggling, kidnapping, murder, destruction of property and death of livestock.”

Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano followed suit in four of her state’s counties Monday. Arizona is the nation’s busiest entry point for illegal border crossings. The federal government “has not done what it needs to do and has promised to do” on the border, said Napolitano spokeswoman Jeanine L’Ecuyer.

The action by the governors, both Democrats, frees up more than $3 million combined in state emergency dollars to pay for law enforcement overtime, repair of border fences and costs related to illegal immigrants’ deaths.

Richardson said Tuesday that the Mexican government had to do more.

But Mexican President Vicente Fox suggested that the U.S. and Mexican governments shared the responsibility to fight lawlessness on the border and called on everyone to work together.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the U.S. and Mexico were working together “to address violence stemming from organized crime along the Mexican border.”

A spokesman for the Homeland Security Department said that the agency had made “extraordinary progress” by adding new technology and increasing the number of border patrol agents on the ground. It also has intensified its work in Arizona.

The Southwestern border has been a priority, said agency spokesman Jarrod Agen. “We’ve put resources toward it, and we have plans to increase those resources and initiatives in the future,” he said.

Members of Congress from both parties said the actions in Arizona and New Mexico proved that the federal government must fix its immigration system.

“I’m surprised it took so long” for the governors to declare an emergency, said Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), who has cosponsored an immigration bill in the House. “We have a huge problem here in Arizona.”