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BORDER ENERGY
MEXICO VIOLENCE
Pipeline battle
Federal officer shot to death
Congressmen fight for lines to Canada, Mexico By JENNIFER A. DLOUHY HEARST NEWSPAPERS
WASHINGTON — Before the House voted 238-173 to pass legislation streamlining permits for border crossing energy projects last week, Rep. Gene Green played a pivotal role lining up support for the measure. The oil-patch lawmaker, who cosponsored the legislation with Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., had been trying for months to lure his Democratic colleagues to support
GREEN
the measure by insisting that new pipelines and power lines are needed to keep pace with booming North American oil and gas
production. But his arguments bucked the views of other Democrats on Capitol Hill, who are skeptical of the legislation, and even the Obama administration, which has issued a veto threat against
the bill. It’s a familiar role for Green, who is part of a small group of Democratic lawmakers representing districts with deep, longstanding oil interests. Green’s congressional district encompasses the Houston ship channel and refineries alongside it. “Every member has to represent their districts,” Green said in an interview. “We’ve worked it over the process to try and pick up more votes.”
Ultimately, 17 Democrats joined 221 Republicans in voting for the legislation, which is unlikely to advance in the Senate this year. The legislation aims to scrap the existing permitting process for pipelines, power lines and other energy infrastructure that cross U.S. borders into Mexico and Canada, which has been built up through a series of presidential orders dating back to the 1950s.
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PAGE 9A
IMMIGRATION
THE SOUTHERN BORDER Mexico’s border gets scrutiny By DAVID MCCUMBER
3 others wounded on San Fernando-Reynosa highway THE ZAPATA TIMES
A confrontation in Mexico near the Texas border between security forces and armed civilians resulted in the death of one officer and wounding of three others, authorities said Thursday. The incident happened at about 10 a.m. at kilometer 49 of the San Fernando-Reynosa highway in Tamaulipas state, in an area known as “Periquitos,” a press release stated. Authorities said a police unit was on patrol when armed men riding in several trucks stopped them and told the four officers to exit their vehicle. Then the gunmen reportedly started firing. An officer with the Federal Police Regional Security Division died instantly, according to a Tamaulipas state government press release. The three other officers were wounded. The wounded men were transported by air to a Monterrey, Mexico hospital, while the deceased officer’s body was taken to the medical examiner’s office in Ciudad Victoria, Mexico. Authorities believe the suspects fled towards Reynosa. Law enforcement officers from several jurisdictions began a search for the suspects, while the federal attorney general’s office opened an investigation. (Translated by Mark Webber of the Times staff.)
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WASHINGTON — Increasingly, members of Congress are pointing to Mexico’s southern border, not its border with the United States, as the place where the tide of illegal migration from Central America should be turned. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, has repeatedly called for more U.S. involvement in helping Mexico “secure its borders,’’ saying, “The 500-mile border between Guatemala and Mexico is a sieve.’’ Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, also sees it as a big part of the long-term solution. “It makes sense for us to be playing defense on that border instead of playing defense on our 1-yard line,’’ he said. But even though Mexico’s government has developed a detailed multi-agency strategy to improve security on its southern flank, it’s clear that Mexico’s goals and those of the United States are not completely aligned. According to a senior Mexican government official, the “guiding principles’’ of the southern border strategy, developed by Mexico’s secretariats of governance, defense, navy and the attorney general’s office, are “absolute respect to human rights; migrant protection through policies to regulate migratory flow and NOT to close the border; and a frontal fight
FEDERAL COURT
Two guilty pleas Photo by Juan Carlos Llorca | AP
A doll rests on top of a bunk bed in one of the rooms at the barracks for law enforcement trainees turned into immigrant detention center at the Federal Law Enforcement Center in Artesia, N.M., on Thursday. against corruption.’’ While the strategy does refer to “detention and repatriation’’ of illegal immigrants possibly headed to the United States, it calls for “intense diplomatic activity’’ with Central American countries as part of the process necessary to accomplish that. Mexican officials are particularly sensitive to the perception that the border strategy is being conducted in lockstep with Washington. U.S. lawmakers refer frequently to the Mèrida Initiative, a 2008 agreement calling for the United States to provide money and training to improve internal security in Mexico and other countries in the region. Recently, additional State Department funds for the pro-
gram were authorized in the House Appropriations Committee after the Obama administration had proposed a 45 percent cut from last year’s levels. On Thursday, Cuellar announced $88 million in aid for Mexican border security “with a focus on the southern border.’’ But to some in the Mexican government, the implication is that the United States thinks the Mèrida program gives it a lever to impose its priorities on Mexico. Two Mexican officials who declined to be identified pushed back on that premise. One said privately, “We don’t need the United States’ money. All of the money we’ve received from the Mèrida Initiative since 2008? Every year we spend nine times that much
Man, wife say they’re guilty to immigration charge By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ
on security.’’ What has been invaluable, though, is the training. “For us to be able to send our people to Quantico (the FBI academy in Virginia) for advanced training is something we can’t get elsewhere,’’ one official admitted. Much of the Mèrida focus has been on drug cartel violence, and the Mexican government has dramatically and effectively stepped up its war on the cartels, with well-publicized campaigns in the states of Michoacán and, more recently, Tamaulipas. “We view this simply as a shared problem,’’ a senior Mexican government official said. “Of course, the United States has an interest in our
A husband and wife accused of transporting undocumented immigrants from Zapata to Laredo pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court in Laredo, according to reports. David Solis and Jasmine Villegas pleaded guilty to transport and attempt to transport undocumented immigrants for financial gain, which is the sole count in the criminal information document filed against them Monday. Punishment on that offense could be up to 10 years behind bars, according to court records. The couple remains in federal custody. Their arrests date back to May 30 when U.S. Border Patrol acted on anonymous information received on a human smuggling attempt involving a blue Dodge pickup, according to a criminal complaint. Court records go on to mention that
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See FEDERAL COURT PAGE 7A
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