Officials Spar Over Level of "Spillover Violence" in Southwest

By Rob Margetta, CQ Staff

President Obama’s speech Tuesday in El Paso, Texas, and the reaction from Republican lawmakers afterward demonstrated a fundamental point of disagreement in the border security debate: whether Mexican drug cartel-fueled violence has the potential to spill over into the southwestern United States, or it already has.

The administration’s critics maintain that the threat is real, and it’s already visible in places like Texas and Arizona. Rep. Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Homeland Security Oversight, Investigations and Management Subcommittee, said at a hearing Wednesday.

“There is a disagreement about the definition of spillover violence and the extent of such violence,” he said.

The Texas Republican argued that the Obama administration has been mistaken in its claims that the U.S.-Mexico line is more secure than ever.

“In my view, it’s never been more violent or dangerous,” he said.

Administration officials have said that the type of drug-cartel related violence, including mass murders and gangs wielding military-style weapons has remained confined to Mexico. In his speech, Obama said border cities remain among America’s safest, and that his administration has taken steps that should satisfy anyone who believes a “secure” border is a requirement for overhauling the immigration system. During Wednesday’s hearing, full committee ranking Democrat Bennie Thompson of Mississippi offered support for those statements.

“As the committee’s hearings have established, the violence is centered in Mexico,” he said, later adding that “I do not see any legitimate reason for the United States to let comprehensive immigration reform fall by the wayside because Mexico is experiencing drug-related violence.”

Grayling Williams, director of the Department of Homeland Security Office of Counternarcotics Enforcement, said the spillover issue remains a top concern for border officials, but they have not seen anything approaching the “level of viciousness” or violence on display in Mexico.

McCaul asked several questions attacking one of the administration’s frequent border talking points, FBI data showing that the level of violent crime in border cities has been declining over the past several years, which the president and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano say is a sign that the border is secure and the cartel situation hasn’t had any large-scale effect in U.S. territory. But McCaul cited recent Congressional Research Service testimony on the lack of a single set of data for judging the level of spillover. The FBI’s Uniform Crime Report does not include incidents that could be linked to cartel activity, such as kidnappings, extortions, home invasions and smuggling.

“How can this be an accurate measurement of the violence in the United States?” he said. “I don’t think we’re getting an accurate reading here.”

The chairman pressed Williams about DHS’ lack of a concrete definition for spillover violence. The DHS official replied that federal law enforcement task forces have identified crimes in certain localities as tied to the cartels, but that the types of organized crime seen in the Southwest is similar to activity in other areas of the country.

“I would submit to you that there are gangs or thugs at work in our communities every day,” he said. “There are thugs in Brooklyn as well as thugs on the southwest border.”

However, McCaul later called a panel of Texas and Arizona border officials who said the spillover issues is a problem they face every day.

“Without question, as the result of an unsecure border, there has been a proliferation of crime in Texas,” said Steven C. McCraw, director of the state’s Department of Public Safety, who added that the types of crimes indicating a connection to the cartels wouldn’t show up in the FBI numbers.

Rob Margetta can be reached at rmargetta@cq.com