Texas views on border "chaos"

[BooneTX]

Originally Posted by stillkit

What those who have never been to the Texas border don't realize is that it may appear chaotic, but it really isn't. It's just a...well,...different place and always has been.

To the folks on both sides of the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo, the border is virtually meaningless. There are family, business, social and political connections which transcend international boundries and that imaginary map-line down the middle of the river will NOT break those ties, no matter what DF or DC does.

The border is the border. It's more like another country than it is anything else. It's neither Mexican nor American; it's just The Border.

You summed it up quite well. The contrast between Laredo and San Antonio is uncanny. Not necessarily in size, but just that fact that there is a large Hispanic population in San An, yet it has little similarity to the culture found in Laredo. It is a world within a larger world. But the line has been drawn and although people from Mexico feel safe in Laredo, which is obvious since our crime rate is nothing like Nuevo Laredo, Laredoans do not feel the same about Nuevo Laredo.

I truly hope one day things can clear up to a point where travel to Mexico is possible again. They need our money and the tourism, but if it doesn't shape up they will be in a constant state of turmoil and will lack the business that Laredo once brought to Nuevo Laredo.

[malamute]

Originally Posted by BooneTX

I wanted to drop a thread in here in discussion of the views other Texans have on the border "problem" that is the drug trade and seemingly dangerous border. I posted this in the Austin part of the Texas thread to get a diverse readership and response.

I'm a Junior at Texas A&M International University in Laredo, TX. Of course many of our instructors are not indigenous to Laredo, and many professors that are from Texas that come to Laredo have a predisposed notion that Laredo is a very dangerous city, and is "almost like living in Mexico itself."

I don't find this offensive at all, but rather, I find it amusing to know how people are so unaware of how it is in our realm of the border. As of lately the other side of the border, Nuevo Laredo, has been pretty quiet. This is in part due to the government and local media suppressing the actual events that are going on over there. But does everyone really think of Laredo as a dangerous town? One that is over taken by drug related crimes and chaos? I know the actual overall aura of the city and how quiet or loud it is and can be. We have our share of crimes, believe me. But nothing like what the professors from east and north Texas have described.

One professor from east Texas told me that her friends and family were fearful of her being in danger by coming to Laredo and how "chaotic" it is with the craziness happening just right across the border. But in all honesty it is black and white when it comes to Laredo and Nuevo Laredo.

What does everyone else think? What are your views on the situation on the border and what you've heard about Laredo?

I don't think it's that different than peaceful suburbs near cities like Detroit, Los Angeles, or Phoenix. El Paso is like a quiet suburb of Juarez only Juarez is far worse than Detroit ever thought of being. You can live a stone's throw from an inner city with a lot of violence but almost never think about what takes place every night even if it's close -- same with the border towns.

The border towns are that way, people living in El Paso party, go to work, live their daily lives almost as though the violence just city blocks away was 2000 miles away. There can be 50 murders in 5 days in Juarez and people at work in El Paso will talk about Dancing with the Stars or the latest movie they saw. One town city is quite safe, the other is far from safe.

[satxguero]

Originally Posted by malamute

The border towns are that way, people living in El Paso party, go to work, live their daily lives almost as though the violence just city blocks away was 2000 miles away. There can be 50 murders in 5 days in Juarez and people at work in El Paso will talk about Dancing with the Stars or the latest movie they saw. One town city is quite safe, the other is far from safe.

So i guess there is a big difference between Nuevo Laredo and Juarez?

[malamute]

Originally Posted by satxguero

So i guess there is a big difference between Nuevo Laredo and Juarez?

I don't know how many murders they've had in Nuevo Laredo but Juarez is well over 2000 for this year.

There is some spill over into El Paso but it doesn't affect Americans because the cartels at least so far carefully target who they're after.

[Houston3]

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Violence Along the U.S.-Mexico Border


"Violence in Northern Mexico
U.S. citizens are urged to be especially aware of safety and security concerns when visiting the border region."

"The U.S. State Department has issued a warning to alert U.S. citizens to the continuing unsettled public security situation along the Mexican side of the U.S.-Mexico border."

"Attacks are aimed primarily at members of drug trafficking organizations, Mexican police forces, criminal justice officials, and journalists. However, foreign visitors and residents, including Americans, have been among the victims of homicides and kidnappings in the border region."

Mexico travel warning

[texdav]

I personally don't care to go to mexico anymore and wouldn't choose to live on the border.