Immigration and Drug Law: A Dangerous Intersection
If one had to identify two areas of jurisprudence where Constitution often doesnât seem to apply, the first one would probably be anything related to controlled substances. And, the second?
Immigration
People are Getting Beheaded in Mexico
Itâs horrible. But thereâs nothing very surprising about it. The drug war promises endless violence and always delivers. Pablo Escobar killed three presidential candidates in the same election and blew up an entire passenger plane to kill two snitches.
The Border: Obama Seeks $600 Million in Emergency Funds for Heightened Security
As the rising conservative clamor to "secure the border" -- whatever that means -- grows louder, the Obama administration is moving fast to pay for more border guards, customs and immigration agents, DEA agents, FBI task forces, and even a couple of unmanned drones -- about $600 million total of "emergency appropriations."
The Border: Obama to Send 1,200 National Guard Troops in Bid to Fight Drugs
In what is most likely a bid to blunt a campaign issue -- border security -- for Republicans in this year's off-year elections, the Obama administration is sending more than a thousand troops to the Southwestern border.
Drug War Chronicle Book Review: "Drug War Zone: Frontline Dispatches from the Streets of El Paso and Juarez," by Howard Campbell (2009, University of Texas Press, 310 pp., $24.95 PB)
If you're interested in the border or Mexico's drug war or drug culture or drug economy, or in drug law enforcement, we've got a book you need to read. University of Texas-El Paso sociologist and anthropologist Howard Campbell provides a vivid, rich, and nuanced portrayal of drugs and the drug war in El Paso-Juarez that couldn't be more timely.
Drug War Chronicle Book Review Essay: "Righteous Dopefiend" and "This is for the Mara Salvatrucha: Inside the MS-13, America's Most Violent Gang"
The Chronicle reviews a journalistic treatment of the Mara Salvatrucha gang and an anthropological treatment of a group of homeless middle-aged heroin addicts. We found one much more satisfying than the other.
Feature: The Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy -- More, Better Drug War?
The Obama administration used an Albuquerque press conference to unveil and tout its latest proposals for dealing with Mexico's drug trafficking organizations and the prohibition-related violence around them, but is it anything other than more of the same old same old?
Feature: DC Moves Toward Stricter Penalties for Khat
Taxi drivers' wake-me-up or terrorist drug threat? The herbal stimulant khat is popular with elements of America's immigrant East African population despite being banned by federal law. Now, Washington, DC, home to one of the nation's East African immigrant communities, wants its law to be as severe as federal law. A battle is brewing.
No Relief in Sight: Reynosa, Mexico, Military Occupation Yields No Let-Up in Drug War Violence
Mexican soldiers poured into Reynosa and other border towns in the state of Tamaulipas last month in response to a wave of drug prohibition-related violence. They haven't stopped the violence, but they have put the screws to some sectors of the local economy and committed some human rights violations. Few observers there or across the river think the answer lies in Washington's proposed massive anti-drug aid package.
Sentencing: US Supreme Court Rules for Immigrants in Drug Possession Deportation Case
In a Tuesday decision, the US Supreme Court ruled that immigrants convicted of drug felonies under state law are not subject to mandatory deportation unless the offense is classified as a felony under the federal Controlled Substances Act.