Report to Congressional Requesters: Southwest Border Security

The federal government has taken a number of steps to combat threats posed by drug cartels, including potential crime and violence directed against U.S. citizens and government interests. For example, in 2008, the U.S. government began a program-known as the M rida Initiative-to provide Mexico and the countries of Central America with financial and technical assistance for counter drug efforts, among others.In March 2009, as a response to the violence in Mexico, DHS announced a new southwest border initiative to guard against violent crime spillover into the United States by increasing the deployment of personnel and technology along the southwest border.