U.S.-Mexico Border: Using Military Forces With the advent of the 20th century and technological advances, criminals have found newer and more complicated ways to commit crimes. Compounding the problem is the advent of the digital age, which introduces the internet and cyberspace. These two technologies alone provide boundless avenues for committing illegal activities within the criminal element of the population. From time, immemorial, criminals have been a part of the fabric of every society and come from every walk of life. From petty thieves to human traffickers, they are able to weave and blend into society in such a way as to go virtually unnoticed by their neighbors for some, while others are well known and recognized wherever they …show more content…
The US is a hodgepodge mix of many cultures and peoples from across the globe, some good, some bad, most lie somewhere in between. One portion in particular, is an element the society labels as the criminal element. To really define what this means it must be broken down into its two basic parts, criminal and element. The word criminal is defined as “of or relating to crime or its punishment” (Dictionary.com). Whereas element is defined as “a component or constituent of a whole” (Dictionary.com). Along the US-Mexico border, there are several criminal elements operating in the region. These elements consist of drug cartels, gangs, and terrorists that are not only local but from around the globe. Each of one of these groups brings with it, its own unique flavor of crime. These illegal activities, ranging from drugs to human trafficking to terrorism, must be stamped out to provide a safer and more secure environment to society as a whole. To do that, these elements must be identified and then rooted out from their home bases of operations. This requires a large number of Customs and Border Patrol agents and other agencies. These agencies were due to increase in numbers and resources which were in line with President Obama’s 2013 Budget Request (Chambers, …show more content…
41). These drug cartels present a difficult problem in that they not only import illegal drugs, but they often are in dispute over both territory and police ownership (Warner, p. 42). These cartels are smuggling drugs across the border from many different regions of the world and present a very difficult situation for law enforcement. This may be due in part to their intimate knowledge of the area they operate in, as well as that of their connection to gangs, which they utilize to assist in cross-border movement. The current number of both law enforcement agents and law enforcement agencies along the border is not sufficient in either numbers or strength to curtail these illicit