Since Arizona passed their immigration law, we have heard constant sound bites about how dangerous the U.S./Mexico border is. Well it turns out that the border isn’t as dangerous as the proponents of the new law are making it out to be:

It’s one of the safest parts of America, and it’s getting safer.

It’s the U.S.-Mexico border, and even as politicians say more federal troops are needed to fight rising violence, government data obtained by The Associated Press show it actually isn’t so dangerous after all.

The top four big cities in America with the lowest rates of violent crime are all in border states: San Diego, Phoenix, El Paso and Austin, according to a new FBI report. And an in-house Customs and Border Protection report shows that Border Patrol agents face far less danger than street cops in most U.S. cities.

The Customs and Border Protection study, obtained with a Freedom of Information Act request, shows 3 percent of Border Patrol agents and officers were assaulted last year, mostly when assailants threw rocks at them. That compares with 11 percent of police officers and sheriff’s deputies assaulted during the same period, usually with guns or knives.

It’s funny how the right, that party of “small government”, wants the government to spend resources securing the border and are trying to sell it on “increased violence”. If the right is so worried about law enforcement, then shouldn’t they also be pushing for extra federal protections against our police officers? How about limiting access to guns?