Defending the Border

Full Measure: This week we take you on a dangerous and sobering journey to see first hand what’s happening on our Southern border – without the spin. We visited one of the busiest ports of entry for both legal and illegal traffic. It’s the predominantly Hispanic city of Laredo, Texas. During our visit, one overarching theme emerged: despite what you may think: they’re bullish on border security.

When it comes to what defines the border town of Laredo, Texas, Mayor Pete Saenz says it’s their complex relationship with Mexico.

Pete Saenz: Laredo is the number one land port of the entire Americas. We do over 200 billion dollars worth of trade here in our port of Laredo. There’s a lot of foot traffic as well, people commute daily. They come, they shop, they work, they come visit family.

There’s no wall here, not even a fence. The only thing that separates two nations is the Rio Grande River. Seventeen thousand pedestrians a day cross the river using the Gateway to Americas bridge. When we tried it out, the Mexicans didn’t even check passports or ID as we entered Nuevo Laredo, Mexico.

Pete Saenz: Culturally, we’re Hispanic primarily. 95 percent Hispanic. We’re very closely connected to Mexico. We’re true Americans, but of course, our culture is tied to Mexico, since we’re here in the border, we have family on the other side, in the Mexican side.

With such close ties, you might be surprised to hear the prevailing view.

Pete Saenz: On the US side, we want a secured border. We definitely need that frankly. We’re one of the first proponents of that.

Laredo police chief Claudio Trevino.

Claudio Trevino: We have a border, we respect the border, we enforce the border and we are not, definitely not, a sanctuary city. Never been one.  MORE