BORDER VIOLENCE HITS CLOSE TO HOME

LAS CRUCES - Daily reports of drug cartel-related killings in Juarez
may numb sensitivity to the severity of the situation just across New
Mexico's southern border.

There is, after all, an international boundary - lined with miles of
fence and patrolled by scores of federal agents - that separates
Mexico from the United States.

Periodically, however, incidents like one over the weekend in El Paso
call to mind that the raging cartel war is just a stone's throw - or
a bullet's shot - away.

A stray bullet from a gunfight in Juarez was suspected of striking a
building on the University of Texas at El Paso campus Saturday.
Another bullet may have hit a vehicle in El Paso. The incident
prompted the closure of an El Paso street, a portion of West Paisano
Drive, for about 30 minutes.

Guillermo Marquez of Do-a Ana, a legal resident who immigrated from a
small Chihuahua town in 1984, believes there's reason to be concerned
the violence could creep northward. The situation in his home country
is "awful" now, he said.

"I see everything in the news daily," he said. "It's coming, little by little."

Marquez said he hasn't returned to Mexico for a visit in about three
years because of the violence.

"I'd like to go, but I can't," he said.

Other Do-a Ana County residents aren't so sure New Mexicans have
cause for alarm.

Cruzita Herrera, 58, a Las Cruces native, said the federal government
seems to be taking steps in the right direction toward combating
violence, such as searching southbound vehicles for narcotics money.
Plus, she said, the distance between Juarez and Las Cruces is a buffer.

But Herrera said that doesn't mean the U.S. government shouldn't be
doing more to solve the problem, especially to help people in Mexico,
who are exposed to the hazards on a daily basis. One idea, she said,
is to lend technical support to Mexican officials.

"We are our brother's keepers," she said. "Had I been born 43 miles
south of here, I'd be in the same boat."

Mexico has seen unprecedented gang violence since President Felipe
Calderon stepped up the fight against drug trafficking when he took
office in December 2006, deploying thousands of troops and federal
police to cartel strongholds.

In 2008 a war began between the Juarez and Sinaloa drug cartels.
Since then, more than 28,000 people have been killed in violence tied
to Mexico's drug war.

In our backyard

Do-a Ana County - with about 53 miles of international boundary - is
one of three New Mexican counties that borders Mexico.

Robert Ardovino owns a restaurant near Do-a Ana County's southern and
eastern-most point, which abuts both Texas and Mexico. He said he's
not concerned about the proximity to the border and the Mexican
cartel violence, mostly because the Border Patrol maintains a strong
presence in the area.

"They're pretty highly visible, and I imagine that has an effect," he
said. "I'm actually amazed how unaffected El Paso and Sunland Park
have been. You're bringing up stray bullets, but there haven't been
many intentional bullets for the amount of people moving in from
Juarez. That is pretty amazing."

A few miles west, within 200 yards of the international border, sits
the headquarters of the New Mexico Border Authority. Andrew Moralez,
the agency's director, said he doesn't feel threatened because
federal and local law enforcement "do a good job of patrolling the
area to make sure we feel safe."

Do-a Ana County Sheriff Todd Garrison noted that stray bullets
originating in Palomas, Mexico, already have been reported in
Columbus, N.M. The communities are about a half hour's drive south of
Deming. While El Paso County shares more urban boundary with Mexico,
he said, "it's not contained in any one area. It could happen on any
place along the border."

"It's something we need to be aware of," Garrison said. "Law
enforcement has known this would be coming for a while, and it's
definitely coming up."

State Sen. Mary Kay Papen, D-Las Cruces, whose district includes part
of southern Do-a Ana County, said she hopes federal authorities look
into the matter of the stray bullets thoroughly.

"I think we're having a huge wake-up call with what's going on in
Juarez," she said. "I got an e-mail the other day saying our borders
are really safe; well, I don't think those people are going to Juarez
to dinner every night."

Papen said the problems stem from Americans' appetite for drugs,
something that should be stemmed, and undocumented immigrants who
haul narcotics into the country, which should be addressed by the
U.S. government.

Ardovino said he feels both federal governments are to blame for the
drug violence.

"I have a strong opinion the drug war is proliferated by the fact
that cannabis should probably be legalized," he said. "It's a
substance that doesn't cause as much damage as alcohol, but
(officials) treat it like heroin, and it's unfortunate."

Caution merited?

Garrison said, while he doesn't have statistics, firearms thefts
locally are a sign of the cross-border connections. Plus, he said,
gang violence has risen.

"If you look back over the last 10 years, it's definitely been
increasing," he said. "People that work for the cartel live on both
sides of the border. It's just a matter of time before things start
catching up."

Papen referred to the influx of Mexican residents from Juarez into El
Paso, saying some of them have connections to the drug battle in Mexico.

"If (criminals) are after the husband in that family - to think that
some of that violence won't spill over in the U.S., I think we're not
being realistic," she said. "I hope it doesn't happen, but I think we
should be on the alert."

Garrison said the weekend's incidents are a reason for border
residents to be cautious.

"In this day and age, we need to be aware of our surroundings because
of the things that could happen," he said.

Several Do-a Ana County residents expressed sympathy for families of
Juarez who must cope with the troubles in their city.

Herrera said, if nothing else, residents should pay attention to the
Juarez violence because of the victims.

"You see on TV everything about Africa, and Pakistan and China where
people are in bad shape," she said. "Well, I'm sorry, people are in
bad shape 43 miles away."