Background
Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) are civil society organizations that are formed by citizens to help them advance their interests. These organizations may be aiming to further a political, social, economic or special group agenda. In the United States these organizations can be formed by citizens without government interference. But, these organizations though funded by individuals and other entities they should not be funded by organizations, governments and individuals who are a threat to American security. This means, all NGOs with operations in the U.S. should not receive funding from terror groups (U.S. Department of State, 2021).
Currently, the U.S. government does not have a law or legislation that require all the NGOs in the U.S. to be formalized or to be accountable to a government agency. This is because the U.S. government values the role these NGOs play in the American society. But, this poses a security threat. Think of an NGO formed by non Americans living within America. It is not easy to monitor the integrity of activities or the source of funding of such a group. For example, an NGO formed by Mexicans in the United States may be having a hidden agenda of aiding more Mexicans to cross the U.S. Mexican border.
To prevent these organizations from engaging in dubious activities, the U.S. government should ensure there are enough Fusion Centers where these organizations are active. Fusion centers are security centers operated by the government to receive, analyze, gather and share security related information (DHS, 2019). For instance, the area around the Southern border should have more Fusion Centers that can help the government know what the NGOs helping the migrants are doing. This is because the NGOs around may be providing a safe haven for terrorists and individuals who are a threat to the United States. If activities of these organizations are not looked keenly with a security eye they can be a fertile breeding ground of security threats.
American Red Cross Activities at the U.S. Mexico Border
American Red Cross is an NGO that help FEMA in responding to surging cases of migrants at the U.S. Mexico border. The organization provides humanitarian support to migrants arriving at the U.S. Mexico border. These individuals arrive at the border without anything except clothes and a hope for a better future. In most cases, they are children who are not accompanied by their parents and individuals seeking asylum due to several reasons. American Red Cross help such individuals with basic needs like blankets, hygiene items as well as a clean and safe overnight shelter (American Red Cross, n.d.).
In addition to giving the migrants the basic items American Red Cross help in connecting the migrants with their loved ones back at home. Some of the people who arrive at the U.S. Mexico border are as a result of human trafficking. Such individuals are helped to access and talk with their family members back at home. This gives the migrants and their families peace of mind (American Red Cross, n.d.). The American Red Cross has a program dubbed “Restoring Family Links.” This is a program that help the organization and its network to trace family members of migrants. Though, tracing the origin may take years especially for the children it bears fruits.
The American Red Cross also offer support to other shelter homes in Texas, Arizona, California and New Mexico that provide shelter to migrants as they wait their cases to go through the legal process (American Red Cross, 2021). American Red Cross has capability and structures that other local non-profits organizations that house migrants lack. The organization provides relief supplies, communication gadgets as well as know-how of handling migrants.
Narco-violence and terrorist threats impact on NGOs on U.S. Mexico border
The U.S. Mexico border is a volatile area as far as security is concerned. This is because as the U.S. want to make sure the area is secure it cannot stop American citizens from interacting with their Mexican neighbors. This is because the two groups have ties that the government cannot break. Also, the government is sensitive on maintaining ties with Mexico despite Mexico failure to deal with drug trafficking and cartels that want to control Mexico territory (Walker, 2014).
The rogue cartels at the U.S. Mexico border is making NGOs work to be unbearable. This is because NGOs with operations in this region are funded by groups and individuals who want to further conflicting ideologies. For example, NGOs that do not fight Narcotic drugs are likely to shelter migrants who engage in drug trafficking. This is because the income from these cartels is shared among all the players including NGOs. Also, the Mexican government is not dealing with its corrupt police officers at the border and the cartels like Jalisco that are displacing Mexicans (Sheridan, 2022).
The Impact of Non-State armed Actors and Illicit Border Economies
The U.S. security is threatened by non-state armed actors like the armed Mexican cartels and the corruption at the U.S. Mexico border. This is because terrorist can be aided by these groups and gain entry to the United States. The cartels in Mexico can be exploited or corrupted by terror groups to help terrorists from far nations like the Middle East, Africa and South America to enter the U.S. via the U.S. Mexico border. The same to the rogue Mexico police officers at the border. Criminal organizations around the global uses such groups to further their agenda (The White House, n.d.).
