Another $500 Million for More National Guard at the Mexican Border

President Obama has requested an additional $500 million to deploy 1,200 National Guard troops in an an attempt to secure the Mexican border. Fueled by concerns of illegal immigrants and drug-traffickers, the deployment of more troops provides the sense of security necessary to prevent the panic of Mexican drug war violence spilling across the border.

In a statement, the Mexican ambassador to the United States praised the "additional U.S. resources to enhance efforts to prevent the illegal flows of weapons and bulk cash into Mexico, which provide organized crime with its firepower and its ability to corrupt."

However, isn't it prohibition that has created the black market in which illegal drug traffickers now prosper from? What seems to be missing from political discussion is a solution that targets the root cause of drug war violence. Regardless, Senate Republicans offered an amendment to an emergency war spending bill to provide an additional $2 billion in border funding -- four times the size of Obama's proposal. John McCain also introduced an amendment to send 6,000 troops to the border.

The violence has crossed the border and escalated to a point where many Arizonans do not feel safe within their own homes or on their property," McCain and fellow Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl (R) wrote last week in a letter to Obama. "It would be irresponsible not to do everything we can to stop the escalating violence along the border with Mexico."

Fortunately, President Obama seems to understand that enforcement alone will not solve the country's immigration problems. He urged lawmakers to join a bipartisan effort to revamp the system. In relation, current U.S. drug policies need to be addressed as well. With the 22,700 death toll of the Mexican drug war, what more needs to happen in order for U.S. law makers to rethink our counterproductive prohibition strategy? As lawmakers consider such proposals to temporarily increase security, may they also think about plans for the future.The surge of more troops in hopes of solving border violence is an expensive band-aid at best.