Border security not an isolated issue, Napolitano says

Source: Los Angeles Times

The Homeland Security chief, at an El Paso conference, says immigration enforcement, citizenship processes and counter-narcotics efforts are 'inextricably linked' to border safety.

August 12, 2009

Reporting from El Paso — One day after President Obama concluded a summit in Mexico, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Tuesday that securing the Southwest border required targeting several issues at the same time: illegal immigration, drug trafficking and violence in Mexico.

Napolitano said her strategy was unlike the Bush administration's, in which "the issue of the Southwest border was walled off from all other issues."

"Our approach is to view Southwest border security along with enforcement of our immigration laws in the interior of the country, counter-narcotics enforcement and streamlined citizenship processes together," she said. "These things are inextricably linked."

Napolitano said the U.S. government is cooperating with the Mexican government more than ever to battle drug-related violence, citing efforts to stop the drugs flowing north and guns and cash flowing south.

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Napolitano also announced an additional $30 million in federal funds for local law enforcement in California and other border states to better fight trafficking and violence. Agencies in California will receive nearly $7.4 million. The money is in addition to $60 million announced in June.



Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-immigration12-2009aug12,0,6305451.story

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