Democrat for Texas Governor Bill White seems to have taken a better approach to the violence on the border–he actually talked to someone about it, rather than make a press event about it. He called on Secretary Napolitano for added resources on the border to assist border law enforcement agencies.
“Secretary Napolitano told me this request would receive serious consideration. She also told me she would give a similar response to the Texas Governor if he talked to her about it, which he has not,” said White.
As governor, Bill White will talk with senior officials in Washington to get things done, as he did throughout his time as Houston’s mayor during both the previous and current administrations.
Secretary Napolitano told White that federal law enforcement agencies were not consulted before Perry’s announcement of a secret plan.
Which goes to show that Rick Perry does not play well with others. Perhaps he’s still seceding?
While Rick Perry wants to go it alone (as long as the media is around), border law enforcement agencies were left out of the “secret” plan that Perry supposedly rolled out.
White has previously conferred with border law enforcement officials and sought their advice on law enforcement priorities along the border. White has heard from border officials that they were not consulted before Perry’s press announcement that he had “activated” a secret contingency plan.
And while the Republicans use the word “border” as a means of portraying it as “immigration,” Bill White is actually targeting the problem–drug cartel violence.
“Our approach to the tragic violence in Mexico should be firm, alert, and targeted to the precise threat,” White continued. “Competition among drug cartels for territories south of the border has led to escalating violence by groups competing for those territories. The absence of territorial wars on our side of the border and effective local law enforcement has resulted in violent crime rates along the border that are significantly less than in many other parts of the United States.”
But we wouldn’t know that, given that Rick Perry has attempted to politicize the issue, rather than create a solution that goes beyond law enforcement.
White stated, “Exaggerating border violence can undermine economic development efforts of border communities, and that hurts Texas.”
Perry seems to forget that sensationalizing the border violence affects the economy in South Texas. As the Mayor of the 4th largest city in America, Bill White knew that his decisions affected the areas around Houston–and in some cases, the state and the nation.
