Mexican Standoff

Having lived in Mexico for two years, I feel a lot of sympathy for those who suffer hardship to travel to US for better wages. I am probably more pro-immigration than the rest of this blog. But lately I've seen stories like this, that make it seem like the Mexican government doesn't recognize illegal immigration as a problem. And when our economy is adding billions of dollars to theirs, why should they.
Some of the more isolationist pundits have called the immigration problem and invasion. I've thought that this was overblown rhetoric. But this report from El Paso makes me wonder.

Texas law enforcement officers faced off with men dressed as Mexican Army soldiers and apparent drug suspects near the U.S.-Mexican border Tuesday, after three SUVs attempted to flee state authorities, officials said...
Men dressed in Mexican military uniforms or camouflage were on the U.S. side of the border in Texas, she said...
Chief Deputy Mike Doyal of the Hudspeth County Sheriff's Department said that Mexican army personnel had several mounted machine guns on the ground more than 200 yards inside the U.S. border, the Daily Bulletin newspaper reported earlier...
"It's been so bred into everyone not to start an international incident with Mexico that it's been going on for years," Doyal said. "When you're up against mounted machine guns, what can you do? Who wants to pull the trigger first? Certainly not us."
Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West, whose officers were involved in a similar incident last year, said he is certain that Mexican authorities know who was involved. After the newspaper reported on Mexican military crossings earlier this month,
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the report was overblown and most of the incursions were just mistakes.

The Mexican government's lack of respect for our sovereign territory certainly doesn't make me comfortable with their arguments against tougher border security.