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This is not an appeal to racism, but rather common sense. Any country which does not control its borders soon does not have a country. The purpose is not to keep people from finding a home and job north of the border, but rather to establish exactly who is getting in. The purpose of a border is to keep individuals we find undesirable out, but more importantly to maybe keep the narco wars from spilling into our country.

We ignore Mexico at our peril. For all intents and purposes, Mexico is a narco state. For 20 years, they fought an internal war with the cartels and they lost. This war cost Mexican society probably 150,000 homicides, and 30,000-50,000 acknowledged kidnappings. A free press no longer exists. When a reporter’s face is cut off and sewn onto a soccer ball, this tends to get one’s attention.

The narco war is spilling across the border. Yes, El Paso and Laredo are the safest cities in the north. That is little consolation to the murdered ranchers along the Rio Grande, or the stretches of land identified as “no go areas.” Eighty to 90 percent of the drugs sold on our streets originated south of the border. Cartel enforcers are active in our major cities with homicide, torture, and kidnappings being the weapons of choice.

Drugs are a North American problem, not a Mexican problem. We provide the market. A wall or border enforcement will not stop the flow of drugs but maybe it might slow it down. Walls do work. Just ask Mexico. Maybe then we could actually put together an immigration program that actually made sense.

H.K. PETSCHEL

Sandpoint