I would like to see any reporting on Mexican criminal gangs make absolutely clear that the weapons used by these thugs almost always come from the US.

It’s not illegal for nationals of either country to cross the border there, as long as they don’t land (barring an emergency, of course). I’m not sure what you mean by “illegally” in that sentence, unless you just didn’t take two minutes to glance at the relevant rules and were trying to make some sort of point.

You do need a Mexican fishing license to fish over the border. Americans can get one for a small fee, no problem. You used t’need a Mexican boating license but that’s no longer the case.

Likewise, Mexicans are permitted to fish on Texas waters with a Texas fishing license, which is easy enough to get. However, Texas fishing regulations are more stringent; it’s common for commercial fishers to cross the line with illegal fishing gear. This has been the cause of some small tensions in the past.

-Americans attacked by Mexican pirates.
-Drug cartels at war.
-Mexican civilians dying in drug wars.

Where as most of the world would shit a brick if a headline read vigilante Texan kills Mexican drug smugglers…and at that point he would probably do a life sentence in prison. Assuming it wasn’t self defense.

So yeah to some degree we have spent all these resources to “play” nice. Where as the other side really only plays by their rules. Which makes things rather difficult to control.

@anonymous

Who’s rewriting history here anonymous? I wrote my past comment in response to another anonymous posters claim that America simply took Texas from Mexico. I’m sorry if I had to truncate Texas history (which made it sound a bit rote), but I wanted a comment and not a 10 page essay on the subject of Texas independence.

Now for you to insinuate that Texans only wanted independence because of slavery is just plain ignorant. There were a host of other factors, but you’d have to pick up a history book at a public library or school and actually read it to know.

Firstly, Mexico did in fact loosen it’s immigration policy after the formation of their government upon independence from Spain. The government did invite Americans as well as Mexicans to migrate to their Texas territory. Texas was a vast territory and sparsely populated at the time and was home to Camanche Indians as well as other tribes. Indians the Mexican government wanted removed from their territory. Funny that the Mexican government had no moral objections to this. Turns out that American settlers came in large numbers and eventually outnumbered the local mexicans. This worried the Mexican government and measures were passed and one of them ended immigration (tried to anyhow).

Now for the other reasons for wanting independence, besides the simpleton explanation that it was over slavery. Being forced to accept catholicism, and forced by the government to pay the catholic church a tithe. Most settlers wanted to grow cotton (being a huge cash crop and all), but were forced by the Mexican government to grow other crops. Criminals for soldiers of the territory, and customs duties… just to name a few. Oh, and lets not forget the transitions from a Federal government to a Centrist government headed by a man known to dislike immigrants and democracy, Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana.

Now I’m gonna skip over a whole bunch of stuff here like I did in my last comment to keep this from being an epic. Don’t be upset or accuse me of being a racist shithead in Texas that would still like to keep slaves and hasn’t progressed into a more humanist, evolved mindset for doing so. You are correct in stating that slaves were brought to the Texas territory when Americans migrated and that the Mexican government didn’t agree with this practice. The number of slaves within Texas before independence was minimal. There were still more native Mexicans in the territory than slaves and vastly more white Americans. The Mexican government may not have agreed with the practice, but it did very little to stop it. To say Texans fought for their independence over a small amount of slaves is ludicrous. It was only after gaining independence that there was a massive influx of slavery into the territory (along with white migrants). Texans didn’t join the United States because they wanted to keep slavery (although upon annexation the United States did allow the Republic to do so), but because they could not continue protecting themselves against constant incursions from the Mexican Army. Even though Texans won their independence Mexico refused to acknowledge it. We know that annexation started the Mexican-American War and we know how that ended too. Also, we know that Americans fought a Civil War not too long afterwards in which slavery in the United States was abolished. The internal strife and problems this caused for Texas is another part of history all together.

Next time don’t accuse me of denying the past or trying to rewrite history in honor of Joe McCarthy. Especially if you’re going to do exactly the same thing you accused me of. It makes you seem foolish and vindictive when you write nasty things about a person you do not even know for disagreeing with your point of view.

Laws which do nothing to address real problems, like this one, oh irony of ironies.

*IF* the Zetas are there, (and where’s the proof, by the way?) their aim is to run drugs or money across that lake, or keep it clear of competitors. They are not spending fuel and boats and guns and manpower on stealing the occasional gps and pocket change.

BTW, who are they meeting out on the lake for the transfers? I would suggest asking Game Warden Capt. Fernando Cervantes what his men do in their off hours…

America did not take the whole State of Texas. Texans did. Remember that Mexico allowed and asked foreigners ( especially americans and europeans) along with mexicans to migrate to that territory. To work the land and too push Indians out. When Texans got tired of being taxed and ruled over by a tyrant, they declared their independence. It was a TEXAN army led by Sam Houston that defeated Santa Ana, not the American Army. Hence the REPUBLIC OF TEXAS. Texas wanted freedom for Texans. But it was out of necessity that chose to become a State in the Union. They knew that in the end that it would be a short lived freedom without having a large army to protect it’s border.

Let us never forget who initially armed and trained them (for drug interdiction efforts).

Texas exists because Texans wanted to keep African and Native American SLAVES and the Mexican government had moral objections to human trafficking. So the Texans killed a shitload of Mexicans in order to keep their illegal slaves in bondage – that is what happened, it’s called history.

Although I’m sure there are still many racist shitheads in Texas that would still like to keep slaves (read the Intelligence Report sometime) most people in the state have progressed into a more humanist, evolved mindset. That doesn’t mean you should deny the past, or rewrite history to honor Joe McCarthy.

We are either a nation of laws with defined borders that should be protected or let’s drop the illusion, this farce, and let anyone in that wants to come. That’s what it’s come down to at this point.

There seems to be a growing view of many that there should be no borders and everyone should come and go as they please from one side of the world to the other.

No thank you. I want a country where we can decide who get’s to come in and who we don’t want in. There is nothing wrong with that. You are either for the rule of law, a common culture, civilization or you are for anarchy. That’s your choice.

I’ve made mine.

What’s being demanded, from the extreme right, is some kind of DOOMWALL that would cost billions upon billions to maintain, and probably still be ineffective.

Real immigration reform is about the economics of migrant labor, it’s about racial politics and changing populations, it’s about gray market economies and health care. It’s a big fuzzy complicated issue that has almost nothing to do with lake pirates and other scare stories that the far right likes to trot out when it is looking to gin up the base.

By the way, it’s primary season in an election year. Surprised?

I want a country where we can decide who get’s to come in and who we don’t want in. There is nothing wrong with that. You are either for the rule of law, a common culture, civilization or you are for anarchy. That’s your choice.

I can think of a country that has very strict border control and very clear ideas about ‘common culture’. I don’t think you’d get on very well in North Korea though.

Oh, and when you say, “common culture”, do you mean Tex without the Mex, and if so, could you provide some examples of Mexless Texas? Thanks in advance.