Preventing Human and Drug Trafficking Abuses Through Immigration Enforcement
One of the biggest reasons we work so hard to enforce our nation’s immigration laws is to stop the human rights atrocities being committed by human and drug traffickers. These criminals are taking more and more advantage of lax immigration laws and inconsistent enforcement to achieve despicable goals – smuggling in human beings and illicit drugs all just to line their pockets with the alarming amount of cash these endeavors rake in. Just this past weekend, Mexican soldiers discovered yet another “narco-tunnel” in Baja California that has crossed into U.S. territory. (CNN, August 14, 2011) Although the tunnel was still under construction, it was already complete with lighting and ventilation, and reached over 100 yards under the U.S. border. Mexican soldiers who discovered the tunnel reported that a small altar near the entrance contained figures for Santa Muerte, the saint of death, the saint who has been adopted by multiple drug traffickers as a patron saint. At the end of July this year, Mexican officials arrested more than 1000 people involved in human trafficking in the notoriously dangerous Ciudad Juarez. (BBC, July 24, 2011) During the raid, authorities were able to rescue more than 20 underage women. Many of these women are often smuggled into the U.S. and sold. Stricter immigration laws and better enforcement of those laws – both in border control and interior operations – not only protects American citizens and U.S. jobs, it protects our nation from being an acting party to the extreme degradation of human life by preventing human and drug trafficking from continuing to skyrocket.