DENVER—U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman is visiting the Mexican border next week to evaluate security, drug smuggling and immigration issues.
The Republican from Colorado’s 6th Congressional District will meet with Border Patrol agents and tour new border fencing near Douglas, Ariz. Coffman also will meet with Phoenix law enforcement to discuss kidnappings and other crime associated with Mexican drug cartels.
“This is no longer an issue limited to stopping the tide of illegal immigrants but an issue fundamental to the national security of this country,” Coffman said in a Friday statement.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder were meeting Friday with Mexican President Felipe Calderon and other top Mexican officials to discuss gun and drug trafficking and cartel violence.
Napolitano said the U.S. needs to beef up inspections north of the border and reduce U.S. demand for drugs.
There have been about 1,600 drug-related killings in Mexico since Jan. 1, about 25 percent less than during the last three months of 2008, Mexican officials say. The government says violence has decreased in border cities like Ciudad Juarez after thousands of additional army troops were sent there earlier this year.
