Perry said decreased border violence should be a prerequisite immigration reform. | AP Photos Perry: May need troops in Mexico

Texas Gov. Rick Perry said the United States should consider deploying military forces into Mexico to stem the drug-related violence afflicting the border region.

Perry, the incoming chairman of the Republican Governors Association, told MSNBC on Thursday morning that while Mexico would “obviously” have to approve any American assistance, military might is needed to defeat the drug cartels that have stymied Mexican authorities. And he pegged decreased border violence as a prerequisite for any successful immigration reform push in Washington.


“I think we have to use every aspect of law enforcement that we have, including the military,” Perry said. “Any means that we can [use] to run these people off our border and to save Americans’ lives, we need to be engaged in.”

Perry has been a vocal proponent of deploying more military forces to the U.S.-Mexico border, hand-delivering a request to President Barack Obama in August.

During the interview from the RGA meeting in San Diego, Perry reiterated his oft-stated insistence that he’s not interested in running for president in 2012. He also said the General Motors stock sale that is allowing the federal government to begin winding down its ownership stake in the company doesn’t change his belief that the auto bailouts never should have happened.

“I don’t know whether there would have been any jobs lost [in regular bankruptcy proceedings] or not,” Perry said. “But at the end of the day, that’s how the process is supposed to work. If you have a company that is not profitable, then it goes through bankruptcy.

“I hope nobody is working under the premise that you cannot lose your job in America because of irresponsible activity or because the market turns down,” he added. “That is the reality of the world. And we need to be responsible individuals and stand up and say this is the way the world works, it is not some fairyland where government is there to protect every job all the time. That’s nonsense.”

Also in the interview, Perry restated his belief that Social Security is a Ponzi scheme. "My children are in their mid-20s. They know for a fact that Social Seucirity is not going to be around. They know it's a Ponzi scheme," he said. "When you have a very small group paying in to pay a very large group, that's a Ponzi scheme."