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Politics

Border Czar Says US and Mexico Share Historic Opportunity

By Amy Isackson / Border Reporter
Published May 4, 2009 at 1:06 PM PDT
This story was published more than 15 years ago.

Border Czar Says US and Mexico Share Historic Opportunity
U.S. Border czar Alan Bersin says the US and Mexico share an historic opportunity to confront drug and human smuggling together. Bersin kicked off a tour of the Southwest border in San Diego Monday.

U.S. Border czar Alan Bersin says the US and Mexico share an historic opportunity to confront drug and human smuggling together. Bersin kicked off a tour of the Southwest border in San Diego Monday. KPBS Reporter Amy Isackson was there.

This is Bersin's second reign as Border Czar.

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This time, he sees two major differences. Since 9-11 Bersin says there's an unprecedented commitment in the US to to border security. Second...

"The action of President Felipe Calderon in declaring war on drug trafficking organizations is a development in American law enforcement that few thought they would ever witness."

Bersin says the US has stepped up screening cars for guns and cash that are smuggled south to Mexican drug cartels. He says southbound searches help deter smugglers and catch contraband before it crosses the border.

Customs and Border Protection officials say in March, agents did not seize any guns during southbound searches along the California Mexico border. They did find about 23-thousand dollars cash. Border officials would not say how many southbound searches they conducted.

Amy Isackson, KPBS news.

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Politics Drug WarTijuanaMexico Politics
Amy Isackson
Amy Isackson was the border reporter at KPBS from 2004 to 2011. She covered breaking news and feature stories on California-Mexico border issues and immigration, for local and national broadcast. Amy got her start in public radio by pitching a series of stories about rural New Zealand - horse dentistry and sheep sheering - to Radio New Zealand's "Country Life" program. She then worked with Peabody Award-winning radio producers Nikki Silva and Davia Nelson, to help create the Sonic Memorial, a series of stories on the World Trade Center before, during and after 9/11. Amy's work has been recognized with awards from the Associated Press Television-Radio Association of California and Nevada, the California Chicano News Media Association, and the San Diego Press Club. She won the Sol Price Prize for Responsible Journalism in 2009 from the Society of Professional Journalists for her story about high school students smuggling people and drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border. Prior to venturing into the wonderful world of public radio, Amy worked for Yahoo! Inc. for nearly five years as an editorial surfer, associate producer and broadcast communications manager. She majored in Latin American History at Williams College. She grew up in San Diego and made frequent trips south of the border.
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