Note: This is one in an occasional series of interviews with Colorado journalists.

By Ed Otte

In “The Dangerous Divide: Peril and Promise on the US-Mexico Border” Broomfield journalist Peter Eichstaedt writes about the human and legal conflicts in the Southwest borderlands that receive sporadic coverage by American news organizations. The book, published in May, tells the story from the perspective of immigrants, law enforcement officials and elected leaders. It is a local border story that has regional, national and international implications.

Eichstaedt is the former country director in Afghanistan and former Africa editor for the Institute for War and Peace Reporting. He worked in the Balkans, Eastern Europe, Afghanistan and Eastern Africa as well as the Hague, Netherlands, were he covered the African war crime trials.

He is the author of five other books:

“Above the Din of War: Afghans Speak About Their Lives, Their Country, and Their Future – And Why Americans Should Listen”

“Consuming the Congo: War and Conflict Minerals in the World’s Deadliest Place”

“Pirate State: Inside Somalia’s Terrorism at Sea”

“First Kill Your Family: Child Soldiers of Uganda and the Lord’s Resistance Army”

“If You Poison Us: Uranium and Native Americans”

Question: Are you surprised that immigration reform wasn’t an issue in the midterm elections?

Eichsteadt: The GOP-controlled House made it clear earlier in the year that comprehensive immigration reform wasn’t going to pass. Piecemeal solutions also surfaced but died. Given that the GOP stood to make gains in both Houses, it’s not surprising that immigration was left off the table when Democrats didn’t want to jeopardize what narrow margins they had.

Question: Do you think the new Congress will pass an immigration bill that President Obama would sign?

Eichstaedt: No. But Obama wants reforms in any form he can get them. I believe that he’d be willing to look at and quite possibly sign any bill that he sees will advance the cause of reform. The issue is simple. First, recognize the 12 million people now in the U.S. who labor at or below standard wages. Second, make it possible for such migratory labor to move back and forth across the border legally.

Question: In “The Dangerous Divide” you write about law enforcement corruption – citing the Columbus, NM, police department as an example – because of the trafficking of drugs, people, guns and money in U.S.-Mexico border cities. Do you think these problems will ever improve on both sides of the border?

Eichstaedt: The corruption I write about involved public officials taking advantage of the illegal status of narcotics and the billions of dollars that are being earned by drug cartels feeding the voracious American narcotics appetite. With so much money being made, the temptation is understandable, but certainly can’t be condoned. Reform of drug laws is just one solution. Legalization of marijuana would be a huge step toward undercutting the brutal power of the Mexican drug cartels.

Question: You also write about the deaths of people crossing the border. Recent Associated Press and National Public Radio stories report the number of people and deaths have declined to a 15-year low. How do you explain that?

Eichstaedt: While the number of deaths has declined, the decline is not dramatic, but incremental. In part, this is due to the fact that illegal in-migration has shifted to west Texas along the Rio Grande below El Paso. Along this broad region, record keeping is more difficult and the likely deaths more scattered.

Question: In the last chapter, you write about the success of a coffee-growing cooperative in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas as an example of alternatives to migrating to the United States for economic opportunities. Why aren’t there more domestic enterprises such as Cafe Justo (Just Coffee)?

Eichstaedt: Border security advocates have focused the debate on building fences. Rather than looking at the reasons for in-migration of labor and finding a solution to what they call a “problem,” it’s easier to say we need to “stop these people.” Yet, “these people” are a major part of the U.S. labor market. By working for low wages, “these people” help keep prices down for consumers and profits up for business owners. If border security advocates were serious about solving in-migraiton, they’d come up with economic assistance plans for Mexico rather than throwing billions of dollars at big corporations to build fences.

Question: How would you rate U.S. media coverage of the drug cartel activities, the violence and the U.S.-Mexico border situation?

Eichstaedt: The old adage that “if it bleeds, it leads” is all too true. We only hear about Mexico and Mexicans when there’s a dramatic event to report. The drama is readily available, but the gut-wrenching stories of real people who cross the border at great peril and who live and work along the border is rarely reported. That’s why I wrote the book.

Question: What sources would you recommend for news and information about these topics?

Eichstaedt: I set my Internet search engines to do a daily sweep for anything and everything to do with immigration and the border. There’s a lot to be had, if we bother to look.