{"id":38824,"date":"2012-04-10T07:43:40","date_gmt":"2012-04-10T13:43:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=38824"},"modified":"2016-04-14T10:05:11","modified_gmt":"2016-04-14T16:05:11","slug":"u-s-must-secure-borders-first-arnold-jones-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2012\/04\/u-s-must-secure-borders-first-arnold-jones-says\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. must secure borders first, Arnold-Jones says"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"This

This shooting in Tijuana, Mexico, in 2006 claimed the life of the downed police officer in the distance. (Knight Foundation\/flickr.com)<\/p><\/div>\n

To address the crisis created by Mexico\u2019s drug war, Janice Arnold-Jones also says she will work to ensure effective drug-addiction education and treatment and enforcement of the law; her opponent in the GOP 1st Congressional District primary, Gary Smith, hasn\u2019t responded to NMPolitics.net\u2019s question.<\/h4>\n

This post continues a series on the\u00a0U.S. Senate<\/a>\u00a0and 1st Congressional District<\/a>\u00a0candidates\u2019 stances on various policy issues.<\/em><\/p>\n

The first step in addressing the crisis created by Mexico\u2019s drug war is securing the United States\u2019 borders, Janice Arnold-Jones<\/a> says.<\/p>\n

She also said the violence in Mexico, and the violence that has spilled over into the United States, will continue as long as \u201ccriminals, and the\u00a0users\u00a0of illegal drugs, on the U.S. side of the border continue to finance\u201d it.<\/p>\n

In addition to working to secure the borders, Arnold-Jones, a Republican candidate for New Mexico\u2019s 1st Congressional District seat in the U.S. House, said she will work to ensure effective education and treatment for drug addictions and enforcement of the law.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is time that Washington stop abdicating its responsibilities to the states,\u201d Arnold-Jones said. \u201cIt will take all of us coming together, not as Republicans or Democrats, but as Americans, to solve this issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arnold-Jones\u2019 opponent in the GOP primary, Gary Smith<\/a>, hasn\u2019t provided a response to NMPolitics.net\u2019s question about Mexico\u2019s drug war. NMPolitics.net first sent the question to all U.S. Senate and CD1 candidates on March 21. It sent a reminder March 29, and Smith\u2019s campaign e-mailed in response, asking for the question to be resent \u2013 which NMPolitics.net did later that day.<\/p>\n

Twelve days later, the Smith campaign still hasn\u2019t sent a response. NMPolitics.net originally requested that answers be sent by March 25.<\/p>\n

The question<\/h3>\n

When it sent a question about Mexico\u2019s drug war, NMPolitics.net gave Arnold-Jones and Smith no word minimum or limit, telling them to say what they had to say. The only criterion was that they not engage in personal attacks.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the question NMPolitics.net asked:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Mexico\u2019s drug war hasn\u2019t gotten as much attention in the United States as conflicts in some other foreign nations, but it\u2019s been a destabilizing force in New Mexico\u2019s neighbor \u2013 whose economy is arguably intertwined with that of the United States \u2013 and has had a tangible impact in the United States, with cartels operating in many states and some documented instances of spillover violence in Southern New Mexico and elsewhere. That\u2019s on top of the humanitarian crisis the war has created in areas of Mexico including our neighbor, Cuid\u00e1d Juarez. What policies and action do you support to address the crisis?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Here\u2019s Arnold-Jones\u2019 response, published in its entirety:<\/p>\n

    \"Janice

    Janice Arnold-Jones<\/p><\/div>\n

    Janice Arnold-Jones<\/h3>\n

    \u201cFirst thing we must do is secure our borders! States now have to deal with national security issues because the federal government has failed to act.<\/p>\n

    \u201cThis problem is nothing new. In 1986,Congress passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA). This legislation laid out many of the solutions that are still being talked about today. I don\u2019t agree with everything this piece of legislation enacted; however, it serves as a perfect example of where a law doesn\u2019t translate out into a solution. Sixteen years later we are still talking about many of the same issues the IRCA, signed by President Reagan, was intended to address.<\/p>\n

    \u201cIt is time that we re-implement a Bracero program in the U.S. The ability for people to come into this country and work\u00a0legally\u00a0is a necessity for many industries in our country, especially our farming and ranching operations in New Mexico.<\/p>\n

    \u201cWe must get serious about enforcement. In Congress I will work tirelessly to assure that our Border Patrol has the systems, processes, staffing and equipment necessary to secure our borders. Those who risk their lives to ensure our safety deserve nothing but the strongest support from our Washington delegation.<\/p>\n

    \u201cUltimately criminals, and the\u00a0users\u00a0of illegal drugs, on the U.S. side of the border continue to finance the violence that we hear about in the news. We don\u2019t have to imagine if it will spill over into our country; it already has!<\/p>\n

    \u201cI will work with state agencies and private entities to ensure that we are effectively educating and treating drug addiction. I will also stand with our law enforcement to justly carry out the laws of our municipalities, state and country.<\/p>\n

    \u201cIt is time that Washington stop abdicating its responsibilities to the states. It will take all of us coming together, not as Republicans or Democrats, but as Americans, to solve this issue.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    To address the crisis created by Mexico\u2019s drug war, Janice Arnold-Jones also says she will work to ensure effective drug-addiction education and treatment and enforcement of the law; her opponent in the GOP 1st Congressional District primary, Gary Smith, hasn\u2019t responded to NMPolitics.net\u2019s question.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[228,281,156,140,3282,195,116],"class_list":["post-38824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-1st-congressional-district-race","tag-1st-district-policy-questions","tag-2012-election","tag-border-and-immigration","tag-border-patrol","tag-mexicos-drug-war","tag-washington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38824"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38824\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}