Mexico City Citizens

Texas border security has been a huge issue over the past years, things such as violence, illegal drugs trade, terrorism, and immigration have increase steadily without a direct solution to back it up. The violence between the US and Mexico’s border increase rather quickly since the declaration of the so-called “war on the drug cartels” by former Mexican president Felipe Calderon in the late 2006. With all the ineffective policies, the drugs traffiking and terrorism on Texas border won’t end anytime soon

As a citizen that lives 2 hours from the nearest border crossing, the impact of the improved security can be felt, as our local law enforcement also focus their attention onto the criminals that are influenced by the cartels and crimes that are tied to the cartel syndicates. In addition, our tax dollars are being put to work as it is used to hire more state troopers to be stationed in the Rio Grande Valley, creation of an intelligence center for the purpose of sharing information with its local law enforcement. The legislatures in Austin are also contributing to improving the security of the borders as they passed a set of bills (House bills 10, 11 and 12) which also established harsher penalties to offenders of border crimes and aiding the victims of human trafficking. With the state and local law enforcements cooperating for the purpose of border security, the effects can be felt as the crimes along the border towns are low and the notion that it is impossible to sneak in drugs and illegal immigrants past the south Texas region due to the heavy presence of the border patrol, state troopers along the highways and local law enforcements all in purpose of putting a dent into the work of the cartels and the influx of illegal

“Organized crime had coopted practically all policing and spaces for the administration of justice” States Maldonado Aranda in Stories of Drugs in rural Mexico. The impact on the community is addiction rates are rising and rapes as well. AA groups have been taken over by the Cartel to help support themselves by recruitment for gunmen, also financially. (Maldonado Aranda, 2014) Young women are dragged by their own peers, then raped, again withthe silent violence they don’t have the agency to speak up about it. Who has stepped up to help is Dr. Jose Manuel Mireles Valverde, the founder of Autodefensas. Autodefensas is a militia in Mexico who fights the Knights of Templar Cartel in Michoacan.(Manzo, 2015) Dr. Valverde wanted to arm the citizens in small cities in Michoacan against the Cartels, I couldn't agree more. To find the perfect solution to helping the people, it’s needed to have field work completed then applied anthropology. I believe arming the citizens will give them more protection in day to day life. Arming the people can give them agency to start a civil war against the corrupt government controlled by the Cartel. I also believe the US government should get involved and have the freedom to expedite the Cartel leaders and gunmen to the states.I don’t think removing immigrants from their homes to the states will be effective. Removing the Cartels will let the people of

are factoring in a half point rise in US interest rates either before, or more

“Another day. Another murder. In the Mexican Drug War, such violence has become so common that the slaying of five police at a stoplight was a brief tucked in local crime sections” (Grillo pg.154). These crime rates have force many people to move to other places to escape the daily killings that happen. “I keep hearing about friends who have been killed out here” (Grillo pg.168) and for some people it isn’t just friends but families that get murdered. Some people even resort to getting involve in these crimes because “his bloody money has taken him and his family out of the ghetto” (Grillo pg.159). It’s not something that people enjoy our would like to be involve in but unfortunately it is the only way that they can afford to feed their families. Therefore, some people to avoid these situations by move to the U.S. to find a decent way of making money and living

Even though they are have different laws, cops on both sides are corrupted. Being a cop in Mexico is far more dangerous than being a cop in the U.S. in America cops are trained to treat to treat everyone as criminals first, Mexican police actually treat

The Mexican government released new data showing that between 2007 and 2014, a period that accounts for some of the bloodiest years of the nation’s war against the drug cartels more than 164,000 people were victims of homicide (PBS). Nearly 27,000 died at the peak of fighting in 2011 (PBS). Mexican drug cartels try to one-up each other in their quest to scare off rivals, authorities and would-be informers and still stun Mexicans increasingly numbed to the gory spectacles (nbc). “These gangs have to keep escalating because they want the shock value but the shock value wears off,” said Clark McCauley, a psychology professor at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania and an expert on terrorism (nbc). “Now, to get a headline you have to get more heads, or more bodies or do something more horrific”. Residents in some cities caught in the bloody turf battles are already adapting to living with violence, said Dr. Oscar Galicia, a psychology professor who specializes in violent behavior at Iberoamerican University in Mexico City (nbc). In the northern city of Monterrey, where the Zetas drug cartel are fighting the Gulf drug cartel, many people don't go out at night in certain neighborhoods, they avoid night clubs and bars and have added extra locks to their doors at home. “What people are doing in Monterrey is adapting,” he said (nbc). The prolonged violence is creating a sense of helplessness among

The Mexican Government doesn’t have much control on their citizen or law enforcement. Kind of weird since just about everything is made in Mexico.

In “Police Reinforcements Arrive to Combat Crime in Mexico City” a lot of crime is evident in Mexico City. There are two disputing gangs in Mexico City called the Zetta and La Familia. The two gangs have caused the number of drug violence deaths in the past 6 years to be 60,000. Many citizens of Mexico City could not make enough money at their jobs so they were forced to move in to slums and tenements where they could find poor housing for cheap. Impoverished people are forced to use their resources around them to make meals and homes.

As a child when my mother would travel to Mexico there was always minimal extortion, “mordidas” from the judiciales when crossing the boarders. The country seemed relatively safe at the time. The mordidas was a common incident for people who would travel from the United States to their home towns. My mother said that it was uncommon to hear about drugs, massacre, and executions. Nowadays, this is the new norm in Mexico .

It is so bad in Mexico, people over there even have the fear of the Mexican Cartels. Mexican Cartels are basically just ruthless gangs and don't care about anyone,

Measures the United States is taking to Improve Security in Border Cities and The Effects it has had on Preventing Spillover Crimes

Mexico City has been notoriously held the title of being one of the most populated cities in the world. To put it another way in 1970 the population of the city was 8.7 million where as now it has exceeded 20 million. Furthermore the history of Mexico is quite unusual by being ruled by the Aztec from 1325 - 1521 who made the country quiet prosperous by making their capital Tenochtitlan (present day Mexico City) and building large pyramid like temples with causeways. The Aztec had a population of approximately 200,000 people with most of their population living in the Valley of Mexico. Likewise Mexico was later captured by the Spanish in 1521 who burned down Tenochtitlan and made their new capital Mexico City.

May, June, and July were the most violent months with May having 38, June 38, and July 51. Officers began to station checkpoints for guns and drugs. But cartels sparked by going to stores and businesses asking for “cuota”. Cuota is when the store or business having to pay cartel members money or they die. Police did not stop cartel members from doing their jobs they went on and continued working. As the end of 2016 approached it was only 300 less than 2010. Most killings are between cartels not towards the people of juarez. Police and Municipal are coordinating so they can work together but they do not know who they can trust. But with the violence staying between the cartels, Americans are safe. Juarez report the victims in 2016 about 10% were women. Juarez is not as bad as it seems but the cartels battle to the death for

Cities on both sides of the Mexican-American border are continuously terrorized by drug cartels as a way to keep control over shipping routes and silence from citizens. (Wilkinson 2008) In 2010 an employee of the United States Embassy in Mexico was murdered along the Mexico-American border. This added tension to the ongoing drug trafficking problem and raised the issue of Mexico’s inability to control its own borders. Felipe Calderon, the President of Mexico, stated that he is seeking a stronger relationship with the United States. The effects of this relationship can be seen on the streets with the intensified level of violence against the drug cartels and the effectiveness of the government. (Dresser 2009)