JUAREZ DRUG WAR: EL PASO DOES FEEL EFFECTS

We continue to be a safe U.S. city, but we're fooling ourselves if we
think the narco violence in Juarez has not negatively affected our way
of life.

"Spillover" is the correct word, a bulls-eye definition of what's
going on. But it should be looked at in more ways than stray bullets
hitting El Paso buildings in the immediate border vicinity.

More to the point, the ongoing war to control this sector's drug route
is affecting us economically and socially -- and that's
"spillover."

We rely on trade with Mexico to fuel our economy. It's second only to
the money generated here by Fort Bliss. We have family and friends who
live in Juarez.

Economically: There are two main negative affects the narco war has on trade
and business.

Cargo moves slower due to tighter security measures -- drugs and
contraband coming this way, and weapons and cash from drug sales going
into Mexico. Our international bridges are clogged. Wait times can
last hours.

Fewer Juarenses are walking into El Paso to shop at our stores. Data
bear that out at both Downtown pedestrian bridges. That means a loss
in profits to business owners, fewer dollars in sales tax revenue, and
fewer dollars in bridge tolls.

Socially: Until 9/11, El Paso/Juarez had essentially an open border. From
the 1800s to Sept. 11, 2001, it took little more than a nod to cross into
either country. El Pasoans have always had family and friends living in
Juarez and the Juarez Valley. Now U.S. citizens are afraid to travel into
Juarez, even to visit family and friends. Those traveling to Juarez for the
restaurant or night life have found scores of restaurants and nightclubs
shuttered and out of business.

We have effectively been cut off from our family and friends, and the
social amenities once provided in Juarez. This is not to downplay the
seriousness and danger when bullets, believed-to-be from Juarez
shootouts, strike El Paso buildings. City Hall was hit in late June.
And a bullet hit a building on the campus of the University of Texas
at El Paso on the night Aug. 21. Both incidents were believed to be at
the time of gunfire activity just across the border.

Others report bullets having hit other El Paso structures during the
narco war. People in parts of El Paso have watched gun battles as they
happen.

This can be terrifying, especially when one is in that area of El
Paso/Juarez.

But let's comprehend, too, that "spillover" comes in other forms. The
Juarez drug war is negatively affecting our businesses and our
century-old familial way of life with the persons we love and know who
live on the other side of the border.