Perry's latest border security plan draws local criticism

Gov. Rick Perry’s latest plan to stomp out illegal activity along the border has all the hallmarks of an old Western movie:

The state’s elite team of cowboy-hat wearing law enforcers — the Texas Rangers.

A growing threat from cross-border bandits.

And, in a modern twist, a few Texas National Guard troops thrown in for good measure.

The only problem, local leaders say, is that it ignores ongoing efforts to clamp down on border crime and fundamentally mischaracterizes life as it is now for the region’s residents.

"What does (Perry) think we’ve been doing down here for the past couple of years?" Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Trevino said. "We’re all out there every day."

During a news conference in Houston earlier this month, the governor announced he would send "Ranger Recon" teams to the state’s southern frontier to supplement enforcement efforts in high-crime, high-traffic areas.

Few details have been released so far on how many of the state’s 144 rangers will be assigned to the squads or where they will be deployed. The governor’s office said they are intended to work in conjunction with authorities in rural areas where farmers and ranchers have complained of increased smuggling activity. The proposal is fully funded out of the $110 million the state Legislature approved earlier this year for border security efforts.

The announcement comes eight months after Perry first asked President Barack Obama and U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano for an infusion of 1,000 National Guard troops for the state’s 1,200-mile border with Mexico — a request that has since bogged down in squabbling over who will pay for their deployment.

"The drug cartels continue to battle the government, and each other, for dominance along that border," Perry said Sept. 10. "And we begin to see incidents of spillover violence in our communities. We must protect our citizens, and we will protect our citizens no matter the cost. These teams are an essential part of that effort."

Local law enforcement officers said they would be willing to work with whoever the governor decides to send, but they questioned the need to add another level of law enforcement and decried the Perry’s characterization of the border as a lawless no-man’s land.

As Mexico’s drug violence has escalated in recent years, dozens of state and federal initiatives have flooded the region with troopers and agents working in often overlapping operations with unclear goals and limited results.

The constant hand-wringing over "spillover violence" on the state and national level leaves outsiders with a view that life on Texas’ southern border is plagued by the daily threat of cartel attacks, when in fact crime rates have largely fallen in recent years in the state’s 16 border counties, said Eagle Pass Mayor Chad Foster, chairman of the Texas Border Coalition.

Comprised of border mayors, county executives and local economic development officials, the coalition advocates on behalf of communities along the Texas-Mexico border on issues that affect the quality of life in the region.

"While each of our communities has their own unique issues, being overwhelmed by criminal elements from Mexico is not one of them," Foster said.

U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who is currently challenging the governor for his job in the 2010 Republican primary, characterized his latest border security plan as "yet another empty election-year promise from Rick Perry on border security."

In 2005, Operation Linebacker funneled $10 million to border sheriffs’ offices to pay for overtime, equipment and border-centered initiatives. At the time, Perry was running for re-election to his second term.

Then, Operation Border Star — launched with $110 million authorized by state lawmakers — funded joint efforts by the Texas Department of Public Safety and local authorities in 2007.

But a series of audits and studies — conducted by groups ranging from the American Civil Liberties Union to the State Auditor’s Office — found that funds for both programs were actually used on routine law enforcement activities, in areas far from the border and for projects that left the rest of the state under-patrolled by state troopers.

Perry, meanwhile, maintains he will continue to seek solutions on his own until the Obama administration steps up to protect those living in the southernmost parts of Texas.

"Washington is shortchanging them, not giving them the support they need," the governor said. "As a result, we're having to dedicate our resources to deal with the challenges we have along the Texas-Mexico border and ensuing issues that porous border has created all across the state of Texas."