AN ICE VETERAN'S LOOK AT DRUG WAR

South Texas native Alonzo R. Pena leaves the deputy director job at
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement with a rare perspective.
Starting as a highway patrolman along the Texas-Mexico border in 1982,
Pena's nearly three decade law enforcement career has included
assignments representing the Department of Homeland Security in Mexico
City, stopping arms shipments to Iran, dismantling Mexican drug cartel
operations and human trafficking rings, and interrupting the illicit
trade in endangered birds and animals from Mexico. Below are some
excerpts from a recent conversation with Chronicle reporter James Pinkerton.

Q. What's going to happen with Mexico's war on the drug
cartels?

A. We're going to see this continued battle between the forces of the
government and the response of the cartels, and there's going to be
casualties, and there's going to be violence, and there's going to be
some of these things that are hard for us here in the U.S. to see
happening so close to our border. But what was the alternative? Was
Mexico to continue to allow the growth of these cartels to take place,
with the impunity they had?

Q. Some say the Mexican cartels have even more impunity
now.

A. I don't think so. We're finally starting to see some major cartel
capos go down. There's still work. This is not something that's going
to change in one presidential administration of the Mexican government
when you've had it for years and years and years, and (cartels) grew
and became so powerful.

Q. What grade would you give Mexico's president Felipe Calderon's
campaign to confront the cartels?

A. He definitely has to get a high, high mark for taking it on, and
not backing away from it, and understanding it's what Mexico needs.
They definitely need to take these cartels on.

Q. Recently leaked cables from the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City quote
Mexican officials saying they must win the battle in the remaining 18
months of Calderon's term because the next president may not continue
it.

A. There's no question these 18 months are very critical. There's a
lot that needs to get done, and a lot will be done. But, again, I
think Mexican institutions are getting stronger, little by little; the
will is there on behalf of many officials within the (Mexican)
government and the U.S. I think the partnership with the U.S. has
never been greater, and that's a strong, strong signal.

Q. Mexico is relying on the military for much of the fight. What does
that say about efforts to clean up corruption in the civilian police
agencies.

A. They're at an early stage of what they are trying to change and
build. It would be unjust to say the current federal police has failed
this new institution they've been trying to stand up. It's way too
early in what they're trying to do in recruiting, training and vetting
this new element. If you look at it objectively, they want to change
it. But it's like a a huge ship; you can't turn it on a dime, and it's
not realistic to think they could.

Q. You headed up ICE criminal enforcement in South Texas and Arizona.
Are state laws giving local police the power to arrest illegal
immigrants a good idea?

A. Legally, constitutionally, I don't think that can be done. That
authority rests with the federal government, and until there's a
change to that, I don't foresee that it's a viable option, that a
state can pass or grant immigration authority that's vested with
federal government to its local officers. It's a complex authority and
a complex issue, and you definitely need to make sure the application
is consistent. I don't know how you try to apply this ... one state
does it one way, another state does it another way, one city does it
another way. The inconsistencies would be a huge, huge problem. You
need something that's very uniform. That's why it's at a federal level.

Q. Is there a threat of significant spillover of drug-related violence
into Texas?

A. Those are battles for territory in Mexico between cartels in
Mexico. I think we're going to see it continue to take place in Mexico
as the government puts pressure on the cartels. There's potential for
incidents in the U.S. because the traffic that's moving and the
contraband -- whether it be people, whether it be drugs, whether it be
guns, whether it be money or pirated intellectual property - there's a
connection to the United States. But the violence is taking place in
Mexico, and I do not see that we're going to see that level, or those
kind of things taking place on the U.S. side.