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  1. #1
    Senior Member Brian503a's Avatar
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    Threat of Terrorist Crossings Is Stressed at Border Hearing

    http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/08/us/08immig.html

    July 8, 2006
    Threat of Terrorist Crossings Is Stressed at Border Hearing
    By KAREN HASTINGS and JULIA PRESTON
    LAREDO, Tex., July 7 — Terrorists as well as illegal immigrants could slip across a southern United States border that is porous and vulnerable, law enforcement and immigration agents said Friday, as House Republicans took the debate over immigration overhaul to the Texas-Mexico border.

    At a hearing in this bustling port of entry on the Rio Grande, House Republicans highlighted the threat of terrorist infiltration to justify their tough plan for border enforcement and to suggest that a Senate immigration bill was weak on security.

    The hearing was the second to be led by Representative Ed R. Royce, Republican of California and chairman of the House Subcommittee on International Terrorism and Nonproliferation. House Republicans, facing an issue that has sharply divided their party, have tried through the hearings to build public pressure on the Senate to focus primarily on immigration enforcement. The first hearing was on Monday in San Diego.

    Senate proposals would "tie the hands" of local law enforcement officers in working with immigration authorities, Mr. Royce said, and would require consultation with Mexico over construction of a proposed border fence.

    Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez Jr. of Zapata County, who has joined with 16 other sheriffs in the Texas Border Sheriff's Coalition, said a smuggling "infrastructure" that brought illegal workers and illegal drugs into the country could easily be exploited by terrorists.

    A bill adopted by the House in December centers on security, calling for 700 miles of walls along the border and making it a crime to be in the United States illegally. A Senate bill passed in May would create a guest worker program and a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants while enhancing border enforcement.

    Democrats on the panel participated in the hearings but denounced them as divisive and called on the Republicans to address the immigration problem as a whole. "The purpose of these hearings is totally political," said Representative Charlie Gonzalez, Democrat of Texas.

    Outside the hotel where the hearing took place, a handful of protestors carried signs reading "Border Security Is National Security." Inside, whoops, applause and an "amen" or two came from a clearly divided audience.

    Reynaldo Garza, acting chief of the Border Patrol for the Laredo sector, said that last year, agents in his area — which stretches along 170 border miles — caught illegal crossers from 70 countries other than Mexico, including some from countries linked by the United States to terrorism. Chief Garza said that an increase in Border Patrol officers alone would not stop the flow, and that more remote sensors, video systems and unmanned surveillance aircraft were also needed.

    The sheriffs, seeking to avoid partisan debate, pleaded for federal action, saying they were swamped with illegal immigrants and increasingly violent gang members, drug runners and human smugglers.

    "Our pleas for help are based largely on failures on the part of the U.S. government," said Sheriff Rick Flores of Webb County. "Many of our problems are federally caused."

    A Mexican military ID card and a piece of Sudanese currency recently found discarded along the border offer hints, Sheriff Flores said, that illegal immigration has become more sophisticated. He described an episode in which "black-clad men with duffel bags" had surprised a group of quail hunters near the border.

    "This is not a partisan issue," he said. "It's a red-white-and-blue issue."

    Karen Hastings reported from Laredo, Tex., for this article, and Julia Preston from New York.
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  2. #2
    Administrator Jean's Avatar
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    Democrats on the panel participated in the hearings but denounced them as divisive and called on the Republicans to address the immigration problem as a whole. "The purpose of these hearings is totally political," said Representative Charlie Gonzalez, Democrat of Texas.
    I'm tired of hearing the Dems criticize the Reps. As if the Dems are serious about enforcement eh? Yes, it is political and meant to be eye-opening to the public because the liberal slanted media doesn't report it.

    "This is not a partisan issue," he said. "It's a red-white-and-blue issue."
    Right on!
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  3. #3
    Senior Member Dixie's Avatar
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    Thanks Brian,

    I tried to go to Laredo but my travel plans fell through. This is the first news I've heard. Some of my state buddies went and they were wound up.

    Dixie
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

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