Last week when Perry railed against Washington for not doing enough to curtail the violence of warring drug cartels in Mexico, I thought: You've been the governor 10 years; many of the leaders of these cartels are running their operations from inside Texas prisons. What the heck have you been doing?
It turns out: spending a boatload of money — without a lot of success. In recent years, Texas has littered the border with money, none of it very effective in stopping the flow of drugs or violence.
In 2005, a combined $35 million in state and federal funds was spent on Operation Linebacker, operated by rural sheriff's departments on the border. The deputies ticketed thousands of people for traffic violations and arrested a lot of unauthorized workers, but nabbed very few actual criminals or gang leaders.
She highlights another famous Perry fail on border security -- his beloved cameras:
Case in point: In 2006, Texas spent about $5 million to operate 13 cameras in Val Verde, Hidalgo and Cameron counties. Footage was broadcast live on the Internet. Ordinary citizens were asked to become spooks and monitor the site to watch for unauthorized border crossings, which is not only creepy but also ineffective. Few arrests were made. And the site was reportedly monitored by drug cartel leaders who used it to identify times when stretches of the border were unmonitored.
“With the growing threat of violence in Mexico spilling over the border, we have taken important measures to increase the law enforcement presence along the Texas border and have placed additional resources on standby to combat any potential situation,” Gov. Perry said. “It is imperative that the federal government immediately provide additional resources to prevent spillover violence, but with the safety of Texans on the line, we can’t afford to wait.”
Yet Perry's own spokesperson, just two days later, said spillover violence was not the reason for the plan being launched. From Friday's story in the McAllen Monitor, "What is 'spillover?' It depends on whom you ask.":
[Perry spokeswoman Katherine] Cessingersaid the decision to activate the plan had nothing to do with recent events of spillover on Texas soil, although there have not recently been any in the state, she said.
Which is it, Governor Perry -- are you acting because of spillover violence, or aren't you?
“The spillover violence in Texas is real and it is escalating. Our border patrol agents and local law enforcement are more regularly engaged with gunmen associated with drug cartels, but our resources and personnel are limited…
[Cornyn] contradicted himself, however, in a conference call with reporters later in the day in which he said, “As far as the Texas border is concerned, we have not had spillover violence, per se.”
Federal authorities define spillover violence as “deliberate, planned attacks by the cartels on U.S. assets, including civilian, military or law enforcement officials, innocent U.S. citizens or physical institutions, such as government buildings, consulates or businesses. This definition does not include trafficker on trafficker violence, whether perpetuated in Mexico or the U.S.”
That definition was recommended by the Southwest Border Task Force and adopted by the Department of Homeland Security last year.
That would rule out most instances of violence seen in South Texas, since the assailants and victims are usually involved in drugs or human smuggling, said Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Treviño, who also serves as vice chair of the Southwest Border Task Force.
Most drug-related crime in South Texas would be classified as “border violence,” defined by the task force as any act of violence motivated by drugs, human smuggling or money that takes place within 25 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border — and can be linked to crime across the border.
On Tuesday -- the same day Perry unveiled his "Texas Spillover Violence Contingency Plan" -- federal officials stated that while the current crimes on both sides of the border are serious and deserve their utmost attention, they would not classify any of the violence as "spillover." From the March 16, 2010 McAllen Monitor story, "After McAllen kidnapping, authorities question spillover threat":
Law enforcement officials said the cartel-related incident does not demonstrate an example of “spillover” violence — often described by the national media as cartel-related violence on U.S. soil, but described by local authorities as an active incident of violence literally spilling north of the Rio Grande from Mexico.
Rather, it appears the kidnapping-turned-shooting was another in a long line of violent incidents involving victims and criminals with ties to drug trafficking — not the general public, authorities said.
Both federal and local law enforcement officials refuse to describe the current violence along the border as "spillover violence." The term can be harmful to local regions, because it creates an overly exaggerated sense of panic for a region already plagued by rising crime rates -- something else Rick Perry has deliberately lied about in recent weeks, months, and years. (Read: "PolitiFact: Rick Perry's "Pants on Fire" Lie About Border Crime Rates").
“Those are the exceptions,” Johnson said. “If you’re a law-abiding citizen in McAllen, Texas, I think that the probability that you’re going to be picked up by the cartel in a kidnapping situation are very, very low.”
Cook would not comment on whether he believed that Perry's plan would be effective, saying he did not want to get involved in politics or give additional information to cartels. But, he said, the average El Paso resident is not in any danger of spillover violence.
Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Treviño, who is the vice chair of the Southwest Border Task Force, believes Perry's actions are politically motivated. From the same excellent Monitor piece, "What is 'spillover?' It depends on whom you ask":
Treviño has said he believes the spillover plan may be politically motivated, given Perry’s run for re-election in November — a notion the governor’s office denies.
“I am trying to diffuse, I am trying to mitigate, the fear of crime that the governor has created,” the sheriff said. “Give us all the security we can get. But don’t tell (the public) about something that is not happening. Don’t instill the fear of crime into them.”
“It is extremely frustrating it is extremely frustrating because we hear a lot of rhetoric a lot of talk a lot of promises. We’ve had committee hearings even at city hall and yet we're empty,” says Mayor Raul Salinas.
Of all the groups that should be included in discussions on how to keep border residents safe, Mayor Raul Salinas says the Texas border coalition should be at the top of the list.
[...]
The border coalition has sent a letter to Perry asking why they were never notified.
“Some of these folks just come for photo ops . We don’t want photo ops we want real action."
Local officials have said they were not asked to give input for the spillover plan — something Cesinger disputed — and were surprised when it was activated this week.
Treviño has said he believes the spillover plan may be politically motivated, given Perry’s run for re-election in November — a notion the governor’s office denies.
“I am trying to diffuse, I am trying to mitigate, the fear of crime that the governor has created,” the sheriff said. “Give us all the security we can get. But don’t tell (the public) about something that is not happening. Don’t instill the fear of crime into them.”
What notification was there? Well, according to Rick Perry's official spokesperson from his Governor's office, Allison Castle, local officials were notified -- in January of 2009.
Castle said the mayors should be knowledgeable about the contingency plan.
"The plan was created in consultation with local law enforcement and federal partners," she said. "And that plan was created in January of last year."
For Governor Rick Perry, notifying local officials is not as important as notifying the media.The Texas Border Coalition sent their letter asking Perry to please fill them in on his secret border plan on Wednesday, March 17. The day before -- on Tuesday, March 16 -- Perry's office sent out a press release stating they had begun the first stages of the secret border plan "in coordination with local" law enforcement.
From the Office of Governor Perry, read the press release here:
At the governor’s direction, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), in coordination with local and federal law enforcement along the Texas-Mexico border, has implemented critical elements of the state’s spillover violence contingency plan. These steps include increased surveillance of border activity by state and local law enforcement...
Apparently, Governor Perry, you have a very different vision of coordination than anyone else involved with border security.
