The Battle at the Border...

Those who think the problems with our borders are relatively harmless must not live anywhere near those borders. If you think the border issues center on innocent, hardworking people trying to find a better way of life in the United States, consider the following story from KOLD news in Tucson, Arizona which, unfortunately, is quite common in cities and towns near the border:

"Mexican border violence has been on the rise and Santa Cruz Sheriff Tony Estrada says more and more of it is spilling over into the United States.

This comes on the heals of a violent ambush in Nogales-Sonora Monday night that left two local police officers riddled with bullets.

One of the officers died Thursday night. He was shot seven times. His partner was shot 15-times and is in critical condition in an Hermosillo Hospital.

Assailants opened fire with AK-47 assault rifles from a blue Ford Windstar and a white Chevrolet Cavalier that were parked on either side of the street.

Authorities say they suspect that Mexican drug smugglers are to blame."

As a result of the increased crime at the border, local police units are finding themselves without the manpower and equipment to handle the domestic issues - never mind dealing with drug smugglers and human trafickers using automatic weapons to kill police officers and Border Patrol agents.

Because of these most recent attacks and other similar attacks in the recent past, the Santa Cruz Sheriff's department has been reduced to 2/3 its original size and is struggling to put enough officers on the street to provide security to those American citizens in their protection. As a result, crime rates in Santa Cruz and other border areas are rising.

As I said before, this sort of news is commonplace in border areas, but you won't read about it on CNN.com or FoxNews.com, and you won't see any articles about it in your national papers. The problems with the border are real and they're becoming increasingly harmful.

So, the next time you think about the border as being an issue centering on innocent, hardworking people trying to provide a better life for their families - you're right. Those police officers and other law enforcement agents who are shot at, threatened, and often killed in the line of duty are innocent, they are hardworking, and they are trying to provide a better life for their families and yours. It's time America took notice of the real casualties of the battle at the border.