cartel," when in reality, because it's such a transnational situation, it should be called the el paso-juarez cartel, or the dallas-gulf cartel. >> hinojosa: really? this is the first time that i'm hearing that. >> or the la-tijuana cartel. because there is a spillover, not necessarily always about violence, but corruption, you know, people fleeing one side, going to the other side. there is an impact on both sides. >> hinojosa: and you have uncovered a lot of these stories. i mean, you uncovered a big story that showed that basically american officials were involved with some shady business around not only immigration, but also trafficking. >> right. i mean, and that's become more and more common, you know, on the us side. i mean, again, it takes two to tango. you can't... you know, drugs don't just magically leave mexico, and then hola, they're in the us. i mean, you're going to have to pay some people off. >> hinojosa: so you... honestly, alfredo, i have such respect for you, because as a fellow journalist... and i do a lot of stuff, but wanting to go into deep investigative reporting abou

some of the border towns in the texas side are some of the safest cities in america, like el paso, juarezof the river, can as you can see, standing on the bridge, is one of the most dangerous. i think the cartels realize if they spill over in a significant way in the united states, they will reap a whirlwind of american law enforce optthem and they don't want to do that. >> is there a difference between the cities and the ranch area? people say el paso is safe, but what about the ranch areas? a lot of ranchers say they are worried? >> they should be worried because our border is not under control, notwithstanding the protests of the president and secretary napolitano. we had well over a half million people coming across last year, selling drugs to people andnot. 59,000 came from countries other than mexico. so mexico is a pipeline for illicit activity and it's very dangerous. people who used to be able to be on their ranches in south texas and enjoy those are afraid now because of the -- the violence and the cartels and the type of people who are coming across are much different from the

have a debt agreement with el pais so as a city or county, although i might add that i had a meeting personally in a closed room with 100 people both from juarez and el paso within the last 18 months on that entire room both sides of the border said they feel intimidated and a senior police official in the city of el paso in response to a question from the mexican national said these people come across the border on will not be able to protect you if i was astonished to the the texas eps was in the room when we had this seminar to educate me on what was going on. so why do think that we should accept as a reality, non-partisan, i'm not running for office and i'm not associated with a party i've been working the border from a long time. the rural areas are the absolute the threatened and dr. victor's testimony should be given great credence. now having said that, number one, if we took the border from one end to the other 24 southwest border county and made a state of them you would say a couple things. number one, 51st in the per capita income, 51st in health care. you go on. they are the poorest counties in the united states, but their number one and doc

to travel in the with our troops in iraq and afghanistan, but during one visit to el paso, i requested to go into juarezthe state department could not guarantee my safety. the cartels have not only breezed our borders, but are now creating safe havens across the border including in my home state of texas. this is the conclusion of a recent report by general mccaffrey. they also say the cartels are using prisons and recruitment centers and cities in the united states for the drug operations. both of these generals will testify before my subcommittee next week. additionally, a recent report from the department of justice reveals the drug cartels operate in more than 1000 cities across the united states. 1000 cities. the control the distribution of most heroin, marijuana, methamphetamines, and other narcotics. they are a threat to national security and should be treated as such. i introduced legislation requiring state department classify drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations similar to what president clinton did in colombia. this would prosecute individuals who provide any assistance. the legisl