Tijuana Shatters Their Own All-Time Homicide Record
The debate over border enforcement and immigration control is often framed by the left as one of compassion. Liberals attack the right as uncaring and inhumane for wanting the country secure … but a shocking statistic from Mexico shows just how dangerous it would be to leave the border unprotected.
In the border town of Tijuana, which is situated roughly across from San Diego, murder is rampant.
Just how bad the situation has become is eye-opening: The all-time homicide record was just shattered, and there are more bodies every day.
“With 19 days elapsed in September, 2018 already exceeded the number of murders registered last year,” reported the Mexican news service Frontera, based on a translation from Spanish.
“With the four homicides registered yesterday they add up to 125 in the month, and with them Tijuana reached 1,789 violent deaths in the year, exceeding 1,781 in 2017,” the Spanish-language report continued.
To put that number in perspective, St. Louis — one of the deadliest cities in America — had 205 murders last year. That was a record … yet Tijuana has so far had almost nine times that many homicides, and it’s only September.
“The previous year was ranked as the most violent in the history of (Tijuana), however, 2018 already exceeded the figure in a little less than nine months,” Frontera confirmed.
Those murder numbers are bad enough already, but the situation is even more alarming considering that the vast majority of homicides go unsolved.
Francisco García Burgos, the president of the anti-violence EduPaz Foundation, recently explained to Uniradio Informa that only 8 percent of people suspected to be involved in homicides are even detained.
That’s without mentioning the countless murders where there are no solid suspects at all, due in part to police being overwhelmed by the constant violence.
Burgos further explained that many citizens are afraid to report information about murders to authorities, because reprisals from criminal cartels keep residents in a constant state of fear.
One photo published by Frontera shows just how appallingly routine death and violence in Tijuana has become. Last week, the Mexican news outlet showed a picture of a murder victim lying in the street next to a busy taco restaurant, as patrons continued smiling and eating as if nothing was wrong.
(We’ve censored the post — click here to view the original.)
This is the part of the border debate that liberals so often gloss over. Some of the most dangerous and bullet-riddled places in the world sit directly across from our border with Mexico.
There is room to be sympathetic to the innocent people caught in this crossfire while also recognizing the importance of keeping America secure. The job of elected officials and law enforcement officers is to protect our nation, and the undeniable violence in northern Mexico needs to be contained.
It would be an absolute tragedy if the death toll that has become so routine in places like Tijuana spilled over into our country.
It’s already beginning to happen, and now is the time to ensure that Mexico’s problems do not become ours.
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