Violent Mexican drug gangs are offering American children pocket change to run errands for them and do other small jobs, Reuters reported.
Steven McCraw , the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety , told Reuters that 25 children were arrested in a Texas border county this year alone.
"Cartels would pay kids$50 just for them to move a vehicle from oneposition to another position, which allows the cartel to keep it under surveillance to seeif law enforcement has itunder surveillance," he told the news service.
The kids - reportedly known as the"expendables" - also served as lookouts for the gangs, who are responsible for tens of thousands of death in the gruesome violence of the Mexican drug wars.
To help counteract the gang's efforts, American law enforcement officersare heading to schools and to talk to parents about the dangers of accepting the easy money, according to the report.
While the report is chilling, it's not the first time that law enforcement officers have warned that American children were being recruited by the drug gangs.
In 2009, The New York Times reported that gangs had been targeting American teens to be used as assassins as far back as 2005.
"They wave that power, that cash, the cars, the easy money," a Laredo , Texas detective told The Times. "And these kids allhave that romantic notion they are going tolive forever."
A recent report commissioned by McGraw and Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples found that the cartels were seeking a distribution point for drugs in territory north of Mexico , according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
The report, along with recent reports of violence, has turned border security into a hot-button issue for Republican presidential candidate and Texas Gov. Rick Perry .
"We cannot have national security until we have border security," Perry said in a speech in Indianapolis last week, the Star-Telegram reported.

My understanding is that he's pretty soft on border security, so if we can't have national security until borders are secure, it probably won't happen.

I like that.
Perry says, "We cannot have national security until we have border security,"

Why are Texas borders wide open??????

I'd sure like to hear more MSM coverage on Ron Paul.

Ron Paul Launches National-Security

Republican presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul is out with a new ad that portrays him as a veteranwho will secure America’sborders and rebuild its defenses.
The 30-second spot titled “Secure” includes flashing images of military helicopters and aircraft carriers. The ad states that America will not be the world’s policeman and spend trillions overseas.
Paul has said that he would end all military engagements around theworld and bring every troop home.
Unlike most of his GOP rivals, Paul has advocatedagainst building a large fence at the US-Mexico border. Paul said in September at a GOP/ Politico debate that “fences may be used against us, keeping us in.”
More and more Paul has been highlighting his military experience. He mentioned it while campaigning recently in New Jersey and New Hampshire. He recently launched a 60-second TV ad touting his experience.
He served as a flight surgeon in the Air Force from 1963 to 1965 and in the Air National Guard from 1965 to 1968.
Paul’s campaign has done well fundraising among members of the military. As of June 30, some of Paul’s largest campaign contributions were by those who identify their employer as being the U.S. military.
The campaign announced earlier this week that it had raised over $8 million in the last three months. Paul raised$4.5 million the previous quarter.
The campaign says that the “Secure” ad will begin airing today in the early primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada.

Mexican-americans aren't happy about this either.

The way I see it, too much of the anti-illegal voice has a racist tone to it, which alienates those who would otherwise support security measures truly intended to reduce these kinds of problems.