March 16, 2009
Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR)
Last week, President Obama addressed the escalating Mexican drug cartel violence along the U.S./Mexican border.  Border violence was also the topic at a House Homeland Security subcommittee hearing.  (McClatchy, March 11, 2009 and CNN, March 12, 2009).  The cross-border violence, which has caused 200 American deaths and over 7,000 deaths in Mexico since January 2007, continues despite the presence of nearly 20,000 U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) officers and 45,000 Mexican soldiers along the border.  (House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border, Maritime, and Global Counterterrorism Hearing Transcript, March 12, 2009). 

Today I testified before the Subcommittee on National Security & Foreign Affairs of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on the escalating violence in Mexico. My viewpoint arises from my 34 years in law enforcement and as a U.S. Marine. I served for almost four years as the Assistant Administrator and Chief of Operations with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and for one year as the Agency's Acting Chief of Intelligence.