Rick Perry, the governor of Texas and one of the current GOP presidential candidates, has the most experience when it comes to finding solutions to illegal immigration, border patrol, and drug cartels in Mexico. Drug cartels are a rapidly growing threat to Mexico as a whole and also have the potential to spew over the border into the United States if something is not done, and done soon.

Perry is trying to come up with some solutions to solve the crisis that has not been effectively addressed by Washington. Perry’s potential plan of action to solve the ongoing threat of drug cartels in Mexico was presented in New Hampshire this past week. He stated, “It may require our military in Mexico working in concert with them to kill these drug cartels and to keep them off of our border.”

Although the idea seems sufficient for dealing with crimes in Mexico, the Mexican government has not responded with open arms to the hypothetical idea. Arturo Sarukhan, the Ambassador to Mexico stated, “The matter of the participation or presence of U.S. troops on Mexican soil is not on the table.”

This is not the first time Perry has been faced with concerns involving Mexico. Being along the border, Perry has had his hands full and dug deep into the pockets of the constituents in his state to control illegal immigrants from crossing the border.

Perry has spent more than  $230 million dollars in securing the Texas-Mexico border from his office’s budget, including putting more Texas police on the ground near the border, surveillance cameras, and hiring additional law enforcement. He also believes it is the job of the Federal government, and not the state, to deal with the problem of border patrol.

Another issue facing Perry is how to handle the immigrants that are already in the state of Texas that have successfully crossed the border. One of his policies allows in-state tuition for illegal immigrants, saving them close to $100,000 in schooling over four years. He stated, “In 2001, we had this choice: Are we going to kick these children over to the curb and say you cannot have access to college? Because the fact of the matter is there’s no way they could pay the out-of-state tuition.”

This plan quickly backfired in the most recent debate and several  candidates challenged him on this topic, including Rick Santorum referring to him as “soft” on immigration. Santorum also pointed out  problems with Perry’s stance on illegal immigration in a Newsmax  interview. He concludes that Perry is doing three things wrong in dealing with illegal immigrants.

First he thinks Perry’s opposition to a fence along the border and using  troops on the ground instead to defend the border has been ineffective. Secondly he believes that Perry has promoted incentive programs that attract immigrants to come to the country illegally such as the in-state tuition policy.

Lastly, Santorum thinks Perry isn’t doing enough about illegal immigrants as far as locating and  deporting them. From illegal immigration, border patrol, and drug cartels it seems as if Rick Perry has been faced with them all. Whether other candidates agree with Perry or not, he has probably spent more time and money on the issue than any other candidate running for election in 2012.

He may be the best qualified in providing  solutions regarding these issues.

Image Courtesy of  http://www.flickr.com/photos/gageskidmore/

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About the author

Samantha Steinberg
A Junior at Rutgers University studying political science and communication. Interests include writing, international affairs, and travel. I hope to make a difference in the world and raise awareness through my writing.