Turning Annotations Into Literature Reviews- In Class Lab

“The actual risk of the violence today is that it will undermine democracy tomorrow.” This quote by S. O’Neil summarizes the overall effect the Mexican drug cartel is having on American Society. The history of Mexico is tied to three main categories including, drug trafficking, immigration, and law enforcement.

There have been many conversations on the topic of the drug cartel. An example includes “Bishops Urge new strategy in war against drug cartel “published by America: The National Catholic Weekly. This article argues for the rebuilding of Mexico in an emotionally powerful way by asking the Mexican Government “to treat the violence as a public health issue….” On a related note, William Booth’s article "More Nonmilitary Aid Sought for Drug War: Clinton Visits Mexico to Review Approach to Fighting Cartels." Published in The Washington Post in 2010,.outlines a meeting between U.S. Cabinet members and Mexican officials to discuss the Merida Initiative, a $1.4 Billion program against drug trafficking. They discussed non-militarized ways to help and investments designed to strengthen communities and dissuade young people from enlisting in Cartels. Another example comes rom Alfredo Corchado’s article “A fighting Chance” He shares the gruesome statistic  that there have been more deaths in the drug war along the Mexican border than there have been United States casualties in the Iraq war. Because of these issues, immigration rates have been rising.

Proof of rising immigration rates can be found in several sources including the Stafford Law Review where Alan D Bersin published “El Tercer Pais: Reinventing the U.S./Mexico Border.” Bersin articulates how Operation Gate Keeper into effect in the 90’s, and notes the border patrol had nearly doubled 1994.  He further indicates that INS inspectors have increased to in cooperation with U.S. Customs. In a similar source, Ted Brader,  Nicholas A.Valentino, and Elizabeth Suhay’s article “Anxiety, Group Cues, and Immigration Threat” Which appeared in The American Journal of Political Science looks at how the language of the power elite shapes mass opinion and response to immigration policy. They confirm the suspicion that public reaction to immigration costs depends largely upon the identity of the immigrants.