By JENNIFER TALHELM
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON- The State Department on Tuesday defended efforts by the U.S. and Mexico to stem violence and drug trafficking after decisions by governors in Arizona and New Mexico to declare an emergency in their border counties.
In the last week, the governors of New Mexico and Arizona have said the federal government’s inability to control crime and violence related to illegal immigration was forcing them to take matters into their own hands.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack, said the U.S. and Mexico are working together and that Mexico has launched an effort to combat organized crime at the border.
“We’re trying to address violence stemming from organized crime along the Mexican border,” McCormack said at a news briefing in response to questions about whether border violence was a threat to U.S. Security. “We are working closely with our partners in the hemisphere to stem and stop the flow not only of production, but the transit of these drugs as well.”
McCormack did not directly answer whether the problems New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano are facing are getting worse.
“With respect to the action that Governor Richardson of New Mexico took, he is the chief executive of a state and he’s responsible for protecting the well-being of his constituents as he deems appropriate,” McCormack said.
Richardson on Friday declared an emergency in Dona Ana, Luna, Grant and Hidalgo counties, which he said have been “devastated by the ravages and terror of human smuggling, drug smuggling, kidnapping, murder, destruction of property and death of livestock.”
Napolitano followed suit in Cochise, Pima, Santa Cruz and Yuma counties on Monday. Arizona is the nation’s busiest entry point for illegal border crossings. The federal government “has not done what it needs to do and has promised to do” on the border, Napolitano said.
The governors’ actions free up more than $3 million (euro2.44 million) combined in state emergency dollars to pay for law enforcement overtime, repairs of border fences and costs related to illegal immigrants’ deaths.
About $1 million (euro0.81 million) combined was made immediately available to the counties in both states.
Richardson also suggested bulldozing a Mexican border town popular with human and drug smugglers.
The Mexican government has criticized the emergency declarations.
But members of Congress from both parties said the governors’ decisions prove the federal government must fix its immigration system.
Sponsors of immigration bills say their proposals will improve national security, prevent migrant deaths and meet labor demands. But their bills differ on several points.
One prominent bill was sponsored by Sens. John McCain and Ted Kennedy. Another is sponsored by Sens. John Cornyn and Jon Kyl.
“The governors are saying loud and clear what Americans know to be true: our immigration system is broken and out of date,” Kennedy said in a statement. “It must be replaced with a common sense plan that significantly bolsters border security, brings an underground economy above ground, requires more cooperation from Mexico, and upholds our values as a nation of immigrants.”