Here’s What Violence Along the U.S.-Mexico Border Really Looks Like

Northern Mexican cities are among the hemisphere's most violent. Across the border, it's a different story.

Border fence between San Diego and Tijuana. Public domain.

By Juan Carlos Garzón-Vergara, openDemocracy

July 3, 2017

Part of the justification for President Donald Trump’s “great wall” is that it is needed to keep America protected from what lies below – northern Mexico is rife with drug violence and there exists a very real risk of that violence spilling over into American cities and towns.

But the dynamics of the drug trade – and the numbers – point to a different reality.

At the Igarapé Institute, we’ve compiled the most up-to-date official homicide data from both sides of the border. The results show that towns along the U.S. side are among the safest in the country; northern Mexico, meanwhile, is one of the most violent places in the hemisphere. They also suggest that the threat of spillover violence is unlikely to increase or decrease with the presence of a physical wall.[…]

Read the full article:

https://www.opendemocracy.net/democraciaabierta/juan-carlos-garz-n-vergara/here-s-what-violence-along-us-mexico-border-really-look