Bersin marked for border slot

WASHINGTON – A former U.S. attorney who oversaw a crackdown on illegal immigration on the California-Mexico border a decade ago will be appointed the Southwest border czar by the Obama administration, according to an administration official.

Alan Bersin, who served in a similar post during the Clinton administration in the 1990s, will be charged with controlling illegal immigration and drug violence amid Mexico’s ongoing war against organized crime, said the official.

By choosing the aggressive former prosecutor who was credited with taming a once lawless area of the frontier, the Obama administration appears to be signaling that improving the U.S. response to the threat of Mexican drug cartels is a priority.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is expected to name Bersin to the position today during a visit to the Southwest border.