Roger Rufe of the Department of Homeland Security, in a hearing of the House of Representatives on Thursday, stated that the U.S. could possibly resort to using the National Guard for border-based control of drug violence. The move is motivated by ever-growing concerns from bordering U.S. states that violence amongst Mexican drug cartels will spill into their jurisdictions.

Around 6,000 drug-related killings took place in Mexico in 2008, many of which involved the use of smuggled U.S. weapons, exacerbating fears that the problem may soon flow into America. According to officials, Phoenix, Atlanta and Birmingham are some of the most dramatically affected areas, seeing a steep rise in the number of kidnappings, murders — even decapitations.

Though state governors are asking for the deployment of the National Guard, including Texas Governor Rick Perry’s request for 1,000 troops, government officials — particularly Mr. Rufe — have said that such an initiative would be a very last resort, wanting to exhaust other possibilities before militarizing the border. The hope amongst the Obama administration is that the agencies currently overseeing the operation will not be overwhelmed, but contingency plans are being laid, just in case.

“I don’t have a particular tipping point in mind, I think it’s unacceptable if you’ve got drug gangs crossing our borders and killing U.S. citizens.” - U.S. President Barack Obama

U.S. politicians are urging a strong response from President Obama, and Mexican President Felipe Caldeon has set high expectations by deploying thousands of extra troops to the border city Ciudad Juarez, the other side of the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas. It has been claimed by the US Justice Department that the trafficking of drugs from Mexico to the U.S., and the reciprocal trafficking of weapons, is the biggest threat in organized crime.

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