Mexico

commentary

Should Mexico's Drug Cartels Be Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations?

While the outcry over the kidnapping and murder of U.S. citizens by members of the Gulf Cartel in Mexico is understandable, stridency should not preclude strategic assessment. America's problem with drug trafficking is not the lack of statutes, but the magnitude of the problem.

Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins

commentary

Hadrian's Wall Was a Policy Statement; So Is Donald Trump's

It's not clear if Hadrian's Wall was necessary to prevent Scottish fighters from invading the Roman Empire. Neither is it clear how effective Trump's wall would be at repelling undocumented immigration and smugglers. Hadrian's Wall may have been of symbolic value to those on both sides of it. Trump's could be, too.

Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins

blog

Shutdown, Hezbollah, Border Wall: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on Americans' financial fragility, Hezbollah in Venezuela, assessing the effectiveness of a border wall, and more.

commentary

The Wall Is Not the Only Answer

The president and Congress have just days to negotiate an agreement over border security, or the government may shut down once again. Until a bipartisan effort is made to reform U.S. immigration laws, policy options to address the incentives that cause people to risk their lives to come to the border to claim asylum will continue to be limited.

Blas Nunez-Neto

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What Border Walls Can and Cannot Accomplish

States have been building walls since ancient times. Some were arguably quite successful, others less so. At the core of prudent policy lies a basic question: What can walls realistically accomplish?

Raphael S. Cohen

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America's Overwhelmed Immigration System

The Trump administration's options to deal with the surge of asylum seekers arriving at the U.S. border appear to be limited. What policies could help address the problem?

Blas Nunez-Neto

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Prioritizing Security at the U.S. Border with Mexico

As debate on border security continues, policymakers would be wise to look beyond the heated rhetoric to clearly identify priorities and make informed decisions about how best to deploy finite resources to get the strongest security for the investment.

Blas Nunez-Neto

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The Big Border Security Question

What does a secure U.S.-Mexico border look like? And what kind of security measures are needed? Despite investing billions of dollars since 9/11, it's still a struggle to measure how effective U.S. border security operations are.

Blas Nunez-Neto

commentary

Broken Border or Broken Policy?

What does a secure land border look like? The U.S. government's inability to provide an answer has trapped America in a vicious cycle. Every decade, the perception that the U.S.-Mexico border isn't secure enough leads to big investments—with mixed results.

Blas Nunez-Neto

commentary

Understanding and Addressing the Unaccompanied Minor Immigration Issue

The number of unaccompanied child immigrants apprehended at the U.S. southwest border is on the rise again, the majority of them coming not from Mexico, but from Central America. Research could provide valuable information to policymakers as they try to find ways to help young immigrants.

Ernesto F. L. Amaral, Daniel M. Gerstein @Daniel_Gerstein

commentary

Walls Won't Keep Us Safe

Experience along the U.S. southern border demonstrates that even with fortifications, a wall provides only modest capacity to stop illegal crossings. More emphasis should be placed on expanding border security beyond the physical dimension.

Daniel M. Gerstein @Daniel_Gerstein

commentary

El Chapo's Prison Escape Should Come as No Surprise

Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzman's Sinaloa Cartel and similar criminal organizations have long used tunnels to literally undermine security along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Scott Savitz

commentary

If U.S.-Mexico Get Security Right, Other Good Policy Will Follow

Obama and Peña Nieto emphasized economic cooperation at their summit not because security issues have gone away, but because the new rules of the game in this nascent relationship between the two leaders are evolving, writes Agnes Gereben Schaefer.

Agnes Gereben Schaefer

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Legalization in the U.S. and Crime in Mexico

Driving Mexican marijuana out of the U.S. would probably reduce the traffickers' export revenue by a few billion dollars a year, writes Beau Kilmer. But would reducing that revenue lead to a corresponding decrease in trafficker violence?

Beau Kilmer @BeauKilmer

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Drug Cartels an X-Factor for Obama, Peña Nieto

Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto and President Obama both face daunting domestic challenges and have ambitious domestic agendas, but both presidents are savvy politicians who realize that each will benefit from the other's success, writes Brian Michael Jenkins.

Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins

blog

Potential Path to Citizenship for Undocumented Immigrants Takes Shape

A group of U.S. Senators this week unveiled a proposal to reform the nation's immigration laws, outlining a path to citizenship for most of the nation's estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants and endorsing an increase of certain types of foreign-born workers.

commentary

Will Mexico's New President Continue the War on the Cartels?

During his campaign, Enrique Peña Nieto, the victorious PRI candidate, promised frightened and war-weary Mexicans a reduction in the violence, but since his election victory in July, he has sounded more and more bellicose, writes Brian Michael Jenkins.

Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins

commentary

Assessing Mexico's Narco-Violence

Drug-related violence in Mexico has more than doubled over the past 18 months, with a sharp increase in crimes that can only be understood as atrocities. The executions, assassinations, and decapitations may all seem wanton and senseless. But this violence actually has a purpose, write Benjamin Bahney and Agnes Gereben Schaefer.

Benjamin Bahney, Agnes Gereben Schaefer

commentary

Could Mexico Fail?

The lawlessness along the mexicanborder has gone way beyond alocal crime wave: there has beena dramatic increase in armed robberies, not by lone gunmen but by heavily armed gangs. Kidnappings and homicides are way up—and not just murders but beheadings.... It is starting to look like a terrorist campaign, writes Brian Michael Jenkins.

Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins