Border officials fear growing Mexican drug war
Posted: Friday, May 23, 2008 8:07 AM
By Mark Potter, NBC News Correspondent
COLUMBUS, N.M. – Talking with officials in this high-desert town, it doesn't take long to understand just how concerned they are over the widespread violence south of the border, which they can't control.
From the American side of the U.S. Port of Entry in Columbus you can actually look down the streets of Palomas, Mexico – the town is that close. The problem is that Palomas, along with other Mexican cities, has fallen victim to a vicious turf war between rival Mexican drug cartels that has claimed about 4,000 lives since the start of last year. Among those assassinated are high-ranking Mexican police officials.
In tiny Palomas, some 40 people have died in drug shootouts so far this year. The residents live in fear of getting caught in the crossfire and spend much of their time indoors. Recently, all of the town's police officers resigned and the police chief sought political asylum in the United States, claiming his life was in danger. Victims shot up in Palomas are often brought to the border in the hope they'll be treated in American hospitals.
Watching all this from Columbus, Luna County Sheriff Raymond Cobos told us he is worried the Mexican drug war could spread. "My big concern, and the concern of most officials here, is that it's going to spill over into the United States, into this community," he said.
The mayor of Columbus, Eddie Espinoza, is also keeping a close eye on Palomas, which he used to frequent. Now he is more cautious and fears that, in retaliation for recent killings there, even more gunfire could erupt, perhaps on his side of the border.
"I believe it will get much worse than it is now," he said. "I think we haven't seen the boiling point. I think we're still waiting for that to come."
School children – a dangerous commute
Everyone is worried that something could happen to any of the 400 American-born children who live in Palomas but cross the border daily to go to school the United States in either Columbus or Deming, New Mexico. Early on weekday mornings they all walk to the U.S. border station, clear immigration, board yellow school buses and then head north to class. All of these children are American citizens, carrying with them either a U.S. passport or a birth certificate.
Not long ago, the grim possibilities in that scenario came into clear focus when shots rang out along the Mexican side of the border fence, just as children were getting off a bus to go home.
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| Stephanie Himango / NBC News |
| U.S. Customs and Border Protection guards on duty in Columbus, New Mexico. |
Sheriff Cobos was standing watch near the border crossing when it happened. "We had to take immediate steps to stop the children, turn that bus around, shut this highway down and try to coordinate with the Border Patrol to provide security for the immediate area here."
Now, whenever the buses load or unload, sheriff's deputies are assigned to keep an eye on the children. After a particularly violent weekend in Palomas, in which seven people were killed in two shootouts, heavily-armed federal officers were assigned to provide protection.
As for the children, many are fully aware of the violence breaking out near their homes. "At night we get scared 'cuz we hear all kinds of shooting," said one boy at the bus stop. "They're killing people around us," added a girl as she walked back toward Palomas. "You can hear it when it happens."
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| Stephanie Himango/NBC News |
| With increased drug violence over the border in Palomas, Mexico, police from the Luna County Sheriff's office and New Mexico State Police stand guard while a young student goes back and forth to school. |
School officials say attendance among these children, which normally is quite high, has fallen off since the violence escalated. At the Columbus elementary school, principal Hector Madrid has brought in counselors to help teachers address the children's fears. "They're exposed to this daily," he said. "They've come with feelings on their shoulders and we have to deal with it and work with them."
Meanwhile, Mexican President Felipe Calderon vows to defeat the traffickers and has deployed 24,000 troops to fight them. And in Congress a passionate debate rages over how much the United States should do to help.
Watching all this unfold from his vantage point, Cobos grows more concerned. "For us, it's a tragedy just waiting to happen. I want to do everything I can to eliminate that possibility."
