Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says U.S. authorities are focusing on rooting out the drug cartels in Mexico and ensuring their demise — an effort that has led to a recent increase in border violence. Napolitano also said Wednesday on Fox News that despite criticisms to the contrary, the Obama administration is committed to a safe border.
“I’m not only the former governor for Arizona — I’m the former Attorney General of Arizona, and U.S. Attorney for Arizona — so I know this border very, very well, and there has never been more resources at the Arizona border,” Napolitano told Bill O’Reilly. “More is on its way — a thousand more border patrol agents are on their way, more technology, more forward operating camps are on their way.
“So we’re getting to the point now where when you actually step back and you look at the entire border from San Diego to Brownsville, the numbers now in terms of decreases and illegal immigration, and increases in seizure of drugs and illegal weapons, they’re all — they’re all moving dramatically in the right direction,” she said.
O’Reilly asked whether the government is winning the war against the Mexican intrusion of narcotics and human trafficking.
“Well, what I would say is not only are we putting more into that border, but that more is on its way and we are very committed to a safe and secure border for a lot of reasons,” Napolitano said. “The cartels have always had distribution networks in the United States — I mean, that’s where they make their money — they distribute drugs, you know, through virtually every state in the in the country.
“What we are focused on in with Mexico right now is seeing if we can root out the cartels themselves and — and really dismantle them,” she continued. “And that is what is causing a lot of the violence that's going on in Mexico right now.”
O’Reilly wondered how Homeland Security can convince Mexican President Felipe Calderon to allow U.S. authorities into Mexico to weed out the drug cartels.
“Well, I think we’re getting into areas where we work on a case-by-case basis with President Calderon,” Napolitano said. “And we are actually doing a lot together with the federal government of Mexico.”
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