Arizona Ranchers Not Happy With Janet Napolitano's Border Plan for Rural Areas -- or Lack Thereof

The Arizona Cattleman's Association is not impressed with a speech given by Homeland Security Director Janet Napolitano this week, in which, the group says, she "abandoned her mantra of the past year that the U.S. Mexican Border...'is more secure than ever.'" During a speech at the University of Texas' El Paso campus, Napolitano touted the efforts of the federal government in curbing border violence and preventing drugs and illegal immigrants from coming across the border. The ACA isn't satisfied with Napolitano's assessment and feels she "has focused herself on border cities where emergency response is seconds away leaving rural areas in the cold once again." The group also says it's unfair of the homeland security chief to charge those who point out unchecked dangers on the border with trying to "score political points." "The secretary fails to recognize that Mexican cartels don't really care if their targets or their victims are Democrats or Republicans," Arizona Cattle Grower's Association President Steve Brophy says. "Secretary Napolitano also says that calling attention to the border security situation in southern Arizona is bad for business on the Border," the group says. "Is a cry for help to the Department of Homeland Security bad for business? Would it be better for business that we not speak of the problem, the threat and the dangers, and just hope it goes away?...more