U.S. Southwest Border Security: An Operational Approach

At the U.S. southwest border there exists the intersection of two distinct cultures, economies, political systems, and ideas of what constitutes the national security interests of the United States and Mexico. For both nations, these security interests stem from a desire to prosper in the global economy while assuring the safety and security of their respective populations. While the expeditious flow of licit capital, goods, and people across the southwest border provides for the national prosperity of the United States and Mexico, it remains a source of vulnerability to the national security and prosperity of each country as well. The vulnerabilities at the border include illegal migration illicit trafficking in arms, drugs, people, and black market goods and the drug-related violence and impunity in certain areas that permit illegal activities. Analysis of transnational criminal networks reveals vulnerabilities that can be exploited by the United States using a whole-of-government approach to isolate and disintegrate key nodes of the Southwest border networks. A regionally focused task force that integrates interdiction and investigative and prosecutorial capabilities, and provides unity of effort at the operational level will enable the United States to effectively target, disrupt, and dismantle the networks of Mexican-based transnational criminal organizations engaged in the illicit trafficking of drugs, people, weapons, and their illicit proceeds.