In border towns like Juarez, where the drug cartels have city officials in the palms of their hands, border violence is rampant. In Laredo, Texas, my hometown, violence has not reached that level of intensity, but with its status as the largest land port in the country, drug cartels have focused most of their efforts on pushing drugs through its borders. There has even been an increased amount of Border Patrol activity in the surrounding area. What has seen the brunt of the drug cartel violence has been Nuevo Laredo, the sister city of Laredo on the Mexican side of the border. Due to the increasing drug cartel activity across the border, many of us Laredoans have seen their own relatives from Mexico flee to Laredo for their safety. Accompanying
