Immigration Crackdown & Whack-a-mole drug war: Disparity in border security under review

Disparity in border security under review - USATODAY.com: "As the battle over illegal immigration has intensified in recent years, the federal government has responded by flooding the nation's southwest border with Border Patrol agents and National Guard troops.

Some, such as an interest group on the border and some members of Congress, are questioning whether those efforts to stop illegal immigrants from entering the country have come at the expense of the U.S.'s ability to stop the drugs, guns and cash that also flow across the border.

Up to 90% of the cocaine, methamphetamine, marijuana and heroin that cross from Mexico to the U.S. goes through the dozens of land ports of entry along the border, according to the Texas Border Coalition, a group of mayors, judges and city officials from the border region.

From 2006 to 2010, the number of Customs and Border Protection officers who inspect people and cargo crossing through the ports of entry along the southwest border increased by 15%, while the number of CBP Border Patrol agents who patrol the rugged terrain between those ports increased by 59%, according to CBP figures. ...

Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich., will use her House Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security on Tuesday to study the distribution of manpower along the border. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, sent a letter Friday to the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee asking for a hearing on the issue."