The Mexicanization of American Law Enforcement

City Journal ^ | Autumn 2009 | Judith Miller

[Lorianne]

Beheadings and amputations. Iraqi-style brutality, bribery, extortion, kidnapping, and murder. More than 7,200 dead—almost double last year’s tally—in shoot-outs between federales and often better-armed drug cartels. This is modern Mexico, whose president, Felipe Calderón, has been struggling since 2006 to wrest his country from the grip of four powerful cartels and their estimated 100,000 foot soldiers.

But chillingly, there are signs that one of the worst features of Mexico’s war on drugs—law enforcement officials on the take from drug lords—is becoming an American problem as well. Most press accounts focus on the drug-related violence that has migrated north into the United States. Far less widely reported is the infiltration and corruption of American law enforcement, according to Robert Killebrew, a retired U.S. Army colonel and senior fellow at the Washington-based Center for a New American Security. “This is a national security problem that does not yet have a name,” he wrote last fall in The National Strategy Forum Review. The drug lords, he tells me, are seeking to “hollow out our institutions, just as they have in Mexico.”

[ansel12]

I am amazed at how many of the busts of BP agents involve hispanic names.

[Regulator]

This process is turbocharged by affirmative action hiring of “hispanics” into U.S. police forces and other government agencies.

[Ev Reeman]

The first thing the Mexican government needs to do is to reduce or eliminate political corruption and then local corruption involving Mexican police officials and members. Once that is done, Mexican police need to ramp up their war against drugs, gangs and the cartels. By this I mean they have to get even tougher on all these entities. Think Dirty Harry type tactics; arm the general populace so they can protect themselves and their property; vigilantism when necessary against these assholes. Those are the only tactics these SOBs understand.

[Cicero]

Well, the corruption of at least some law enforcement people at every level by drug lords is nothing new. There is a lot of money in that business, and there will always be at least some police and FBI and others who are on the take.

It was worse in the clinton years, when the President himself was involved. But I don’t think Bush did much to clean things up.

Still, of course, there is plenty of room for things to get much worse. Chicago was never cleaned up from the liquor smuggling mobs that rose during Prohibition days, and our southern border (and Canadian border as well) is pretty porous.

Certainly things can only get worse when the Mafia is in the White House again. This time not the Dixie Mafia but the Chicago Mafia.

[Huck]

law enforcement officials on the take from drug lords—is becoming an American problem as well.

Becoming??? Bwahahahhaaaa!

[rellimpank]

---The first thing the Mexican government needs to do is to reduce or eliminate political corruption and then local corruption involving Mexican police officials and members.

--who was that king that thought he could sweep back the tide? "Government" in Mexico is synonymous with "corruption"--

[Scotsman will be Free]

Very interesting story. I believe that any public official that has violated the trust of his public office by using it to illegally advance himself should be executed, everything he owns seized, and his family thrown out onto the street.
Our Republic can not operate if there is a distrust of public officials’ integrity. Kinda like now.

[AuntB]

“The drug lords, he tells me, are seeking to “hollow out our institutions, just as they have in Mexico.””

And how! They’ve infiltrated the military and the border patrol as well. The Nafbpo reports show nearly every day that the cartels are placing their people in our border patrol.

Mexican cartels looking to exploit gang connections in U.S. military
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2408794/posts

This article was sent out by NAFBPO, with another related one.

Soldiers sworn in as U.S. citizens

[snip] On Monday, Prado was one of 19 foreign-born soldiers — seven from Cuba — who became U.S. citizens during a special ceremony in Kendall before they deploy overseas.

The ceremony comes on the eve of when the Congress is set to introduce the latest bill to legalize millions of undocumented immigrants who have been unable to obtain immigration status after illegally crossing the border or overstaying a visa.

On Tuesday, Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., is planning to file the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America’s Security and Prosperity Act of 2009, a bill that may be embraced by the White House when President Obama is ready to pitch immigration reform.

Immigrant soldiers receive expedited naturalization. A recent report from the Immigration Policy Center said that as of June 30 there were 114,601 foreign-born individuals serving in the U.S. armed forces or about 7.91 percent of the 1.4 million military personnel on active duty.

And between Oct. 1, 2008 and Sept. 30, 2009, 10,505 immigrant soldiers became citizens, the report said.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking-news/story/1381853.html

“114,601 foreign-born individuals serving in the U.S. armed forces”

THAT can’t be good!

[goldstategop]

Not going to happen. "La Mordida" is like the weather in Mexico. Nothing works without paying bribes. You get things done faster and avoid mountains of red tape by paying off bureaucrats and cops to expedite things. Clean and honest government won't work in Mexico because that would require a change in the country's political culture. The government is simply above the law.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find only things evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelogus

[AuntB]

Illegal aliens still profiting...notice how they always know THEIR rights???

Illegal alien wins settlement after arrest

[snip]MOUNT VERNON, Wash., Nov. 29 (UPI) — An illegal immigrant who says he was assaulted and illegally arrested by federal agents has won a $48,000 settlement from the U.S. government

Customs and Border Patrol agents approached Isabel Valencia-Perez as he waited for his 6-year-old son at a bus stop in Mount Vernon, Wash., in 2006, and a physical confrontation led to his arrest, The Seattle Times reported Sunday.

Valencia-Perez claims the two “strange men” approached him wearing civilian clothes and did not identify themselves as agents. He said he became frightened and started to run, and an agent grabbed him by the arm, the Times said. Valencia-Perez said the agent slugged him hard in the eye, and they fell to the ground fighting.

After Valencia-Perez’s arrest, county prosecutors considered filing criminal charges against the two agents, and the FBI began a civil-rights investigation into possible use of excessive force.

Federal prosecutors refused to comment on the settlement of Valencia-Perez’s lawsuit, filed last year.

His lawyer, Manuel Rios, is trying to get him a crime-victim’s visa that would allow him to become a legal resident in three years, the Times reported.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2009/11/29/Illegal-alien-wins-settlement-after-arrest/UPI-82381259546832/

[Scotsman will be Free]

Yup. Same thing happened to Miami PD back in the eighties.

[SouthTexas]

Anyone that voluntarily puts his life on the line for this country deserves citizenship.

[AuntB]

“Anyone that voluntarily puts his life on the line for this country deserves citizenship.”

That’s a nice sentiment, but when it’s narco gang bangers being put in to infiltrate and destroy this country, you need to take a second look. And there is PLENTY of that going on.

[Entrepreneur]

The first thing the Mexican government needs to do is to reduce or eliminate political corruption

I'm starting to think that "political" and "corruption" are synonymous (along with "government").

[AtlasStalled]

Thanks for posting this article. I don’t think the corruption is limited to the border states. The Mexican drug cartels have established operational cells in 250 U.S. cities throughout the United States, and as the old saying goes: “organized crime cannot exist without public corruption.” The Mexican cartels conservatively generate $20 billion in profits each year, and with that much cash — a lot of it which goes through the U.S. financial system — corruption is inevitable. How long until the terrorists start exploiting the operational infrastructure established by the Mexican drug cartels for their own aims? The U.S.-Mexico border is one big Achilles heel to American security but the politicians don’t give it more than passing lip service concern.

[skinny old man]

This is happening in part because,many years ago the Mexican Govt.TOTALLY DISARMED THE COUNTRY !!!

Look what obama and Company have in store for us

[jnsun]

We can point very specifically to areas in Virginia where the local Judge, Sheriff, and even local State Trooper post, refuse to apprehend or prosecute illegal, primarily Mexican, immigrants. The dull locals say it is because they cannot get any money out of them, they have no paper path to money, thus the only prosecution is directed at legitimate citizen taxpayers. It is blatant in the local court, everybody knows it, (including the illegals and that includes their extended families in Oaxaca by virtue of celphones), but it just seems the local legitimate people are afraid of talking publicly, for God knows what reason. The local rag, owned by Gannett, will of course not touch it.

The State Representative is a Democrat, a self confessed liberal one. Although reasonably well spoken he has absolutely no thoughts of his own, just the direct soundbites of the Democratic Party. That is also obvious. He is a party shill.

Neither the Judge, Sheriff, nor Representative, I would accuse of being blatantly malicious people, but they very consciously, and obviously, elect to enforce the laws on whom their agenda decides. This is the face of so-called Liberalism, which at points like this, becomes Leftism, imposing selected laws and selected guilt for an undeclared, and perhaps subconscious, agenda. This is a classic case where abandonment of principle and integrity cultivates poverty and drugs (which is happening due to massive portage via the illegals).

In the recent Virginia election L. won again against a sincere (R) female opponent, although admittedly the latter is not as "experienced" politically (in state politics) as the incumbent, nor is she a long time local.

It is very very difficult to correct this corruption in the venue of local provincial people, (the incumbent is a long time local). It is somewhat like a stereotypical vision of Appalachia, or shades of All the Kings Men, where the provincial locals are very defensive and secretive about their affairs, which of course is their own worse enemy in terms of inviting prosperity.

Hopefully the new government in Virginia will help correct the conditions, but I have lost faith in the national Republican Party to show much more integrity than the Dems. We will see on the state level if it can rise above John McCain, Olympia Snowe, the CFR, et al.

[SouthTexas]

Are there exceptions yes, the rule no.

There will always be traitors among us, just look at our government.