Tag Archives: Arizona State Guard

Mexican Drug Cartels’ Stake in the U.S.: One Trillion Dollars

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New America Media—Editor’s Note: Recent media reports of money laundering activities involving U.S. banks and Mexico’s drug cartels point to a disturbing trend. NAM contributor Louis Nevaer says that everything taken into account, the amounts involved rival investments made by some of the U.S.’s largest trade partners.

The six-year War on Drugs that Mexican president Felipe Calderon has waged since 2007 has resulted in one consequence no one anticipated: Mexican drug cartels have sent upwards of $1 trillion to the U.S.

This staggering sum of money has been funneled through U.S. financial institutions, almost always in violation of U.S. laws, and at times even with the cooperation of American federal agencies.

In fact, if the Mexican drug cartels were a sovereign nation, they would qualify to be part of the G-20, ahead of Indonesia (GNP: $845 billion) and behind South Korea (GNP: $1.1 trillion). Yet, this is the cumulative sum of money that Mexican drug cartels have funneled through the U.S. economy.

A New York Times story published last month reporting that federal authorities busted a cartel boss accused of laundering $1 million a month pales in comparison to the hundreds of billions of dollars that drug organizations have moved through U.S. banks.

Closure of Border Patrol stations across four states triggers alarm

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FOX NEWS—The Obama administration is moving to shut down nine Border Patrol stations across four states, triggering a backlash from local law enforcement, members of Congress and Border Patrol agents themselves.

Critics of the move warn the closures will undercut efforts to intercept drug and human traffickers in well-traveled corridors north of the U.S.-Mexico border. Though the affected stations are scattered throughout northern and central Texas, and three other states, the coverage areas still see plenty of illegal immigrant activity — one soon-to-be-shuttered station in Amarillo, Texas, is right in the middle of the I-40 corridor; another in Riverside, Calif., is outside Los Angeles.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection says it’s closing the stations in order to reassign agents to high-priority areas closer to the border.

“These deactivations are consistent with the strategic goal of securing America’s borders, and our objective of increasing and sustaining the certainty of arrest of those trying to enter our country illegally,” CBP spokesman Bill Brooks said in a statement. “By redeploying and reallocating resources at or near the border, CBP will maximize the effectiveness of its enforcement mandate and align our investments with our mission.”

Read more at FOX News

Arizona State Guard changes name; Job remains that same.

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by Glen Davis

PHOENIX—The Border Security, Federalism and States’ Soveriegnty committee will meet at 9 a.m. on Thursday where Senator Sylvia Allen is expected to submit a strike all amendment to S.B. 1083 to form the Arizona State Guard. The amendment would strike the original S.B. 1083 and create, instead, an Arizona Special Missions Unit.

The Arizona Special Missions Unit would be formed by adding a Chapter 20 to Title 41 of the Arizona Revised Statute entitled State Government. The original bill mixed the Arizona State Guard within Title 26, Military Affairs and Emergency Management.

Because of some technical confusion pointed out by Major General Salazar of the National Guard and concerns of confusion by law enforcement by one of the other Senators, Senator Sylvia Allen changed the bill to ensure a clear separation between the State organization and the National Guard. It also makes clear that they may not act without local law enforcement request.

In an email, Senator Allen wrote, “We must have the ability to organize a highly train special unit who could help with cross border criminal activity. This is a cross between State Guard/Arizona Ranger.”

The missions of the unit and funding are essentially the same, but several key elements make it more like a true militia than the S.B. 1083 bill.
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Senate committee sends emergency bill to the legislature

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Phoenix —The Senate Committee on Border Security, Federalism and State’s Sovereignty voted on Thursday, January 26th to send two bills and a resolution to the legislature for a vote.

S.B. 1083 to establish the Arizona State Guard received six yes votes, one no and one not voting. Major General Salazar, Adjutant General of the National Guard, expressed some concerns about the wording in the Arizona Constitution which might make the Arizona State Guard under the National Guard. The Arizona State Guard when called by the governor would, in effect, be a militia and thus subject to National Guard. Senator Sylvia Allen noted that there is was an effort to write the language so that it is clear that they are two separate entities and the Arizona State Guard would be under Arizona State control. Another point General Salazar made was whether or not federal agencies would welcome State Guard personnel in their areas of operation. He was unclear what coordination could be conducted.

He did clarify that he was not objecting the the legislation but pointing out areas of the legislation and Arizona Constitution that might cause contention. At one point he joked, “I’m not taking this personally.”

One concern expressed was basically giving a gun to untrained people and sending them to the border. In previous testimony, however, it was made clear that they would be trained before they were sent into areas of operation. One Senator with previous military experience balked at the notion giving several examples of where the Army trained various groups around the world in a short amount of time to fight.

SCR 1008 and S.B. 1081 giving counties the ability to declare emergencies in the forested areas to clean out fire fuels also passed, both with a vote of 6 yes and two not voting.

Arizona State Guard bill introduced in the Senate

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The Arizona Senate has introduced S.B. 1083 to form the Arizona State Guard after the authorization passed last year. Senate President Pro Tempore Sylvia Allen, and republicans Steve Smith, Gail Griffin, Lori Klein, Al Melvin, Rick Murphy introduced the bill. Republican representative David Gowan and Terri Proud added their names to the legislation.

Title 26-174 subsection A of the Arizona Revise Statute—originally amended to authorize a guard—would be replaced with Subsections A and B to read:

A. An armed force, known as the Arizona state guard, is established for the purpose of securing the safety and protection of the lives and property of the citizens of this state. The intent of the Arizona state guard is to provide a mission-ready volunteer military force for use by this state in homeland security and community service activities as a supplement to the national guard of Arizona and state and local law enforcement agencies. The Arizona state guard exists as part of the militia under article XVI, section 2, Constitution of Arizona, and a defense force under 32 United States Code section 109.

B. The mission of the state guard is:

1. To support this state in securing the border with Mexico and supplement the efforts of law enforcement and state agencies.
2. Augment the national guard.
3. Support county and municipal leaders in combating international criminal activity.
4. Respond to natural and manmade disasters.
5. Search and rescue efforts.
6. Support community activities.
7. Other missions directed by the governor.

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