From: Federation for American Immigration Reform <info@fairus.org> Add to Address Book
Date: 2006/07/11 Tue PM 03:45:20 EDT
Subject: FAIR Legislative Update 7-11-2006



Latest News Releases

A Tale of Two Hearings: House Immigration Hearings Focus on Protecting American Security, Senate Hearing Focuses on Protecting Special Interests
(July 7, 2006)

New Side by Side Comparison of House and Senate Immigration Bills (PDF)
(July 3, 2006)

FAIR's Testimony Regarding the issue of non-citizen voting in U.S. elections and identification requirements
(June 22, 2006)

Top Ten Worst Provisions of the Senate Amnesty Bill
(June 9, 2006)

Check out our Stein Report for the latest immigration news and information!

July 11, 2006


In this update:
Congressional Field Hearings on Immigration Continue
House GOP Release on Immigration Hearings
Press Release
Congressional Field Hearings on Immigration Continue
Four Congressional field hearings during the last week were held to display both the House's enforcement-only measure and the Senate's guest worker amnesty. Here are highlights from each hearing:

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The Senate Judiciary Committee held a field hearing on July 5, 2006, entitled "Comprehensive Immigration Reform: Examining the Need for a Guest Worker Program." In their session at Philadelphia's National Constitution Center, Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) questioned witnesses who were supportive of the Senate legislation.

There were a variety of panelists, including New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who estimated that 500,000 of the 8.1 million people living in New York City are in the country illegally. The mayor stated that these residents range from typical immigrant workers to senior people in some of the city's top organizations, and "without them, the city could not survive in the way as it is."

The sole dissenting witness was Louis Barletta, mayor of Hazelton, Pennsylvania. He disagreed that the Senate's guest worker amnesty proposal was the right solution to the country's immigration crisis. Mayor Barletta described the steps his city has taken to deal with illegal immigration in their community. These include laws recently passed by the town, such as ordinances that deny permits to businesses hiring illegal aliens, fine landlords $1,000 for every illegal alien to whom they knowingly rent, and make English the language of official city business in Hazleton.

San Diego, California
The International Relations Subcommittee on International Terrorism and Nonproliferation, Chaired by Representative Edward Royce (R-CA), held a field hearing on "Border Vulnerabilities and International Terrorism, Part I" on July 5, 2006, in San Diego, California. This hearing focused mainly on how U.S. Border Patrol and other law enforcement communities along our borders deal with the incredible flow of persons and commerce across the nation's borders.

Rick Flores, Sheriff of Webb County, Texas, testified that terrorists of any nationality can come across the U.S. border by paying smugglers. He said smuggling aliens is easily arranged because drug cartels have databases full of information which they use to match aliens with smugglers.

T.J. Bonner, President of the National Border Patrol Council, testified that the Border Patrol catches only one out of every two or three people who cross the border. He recommended that the U.S. government "turn off the magnets" which attract people to illegally enter the U.S.-in particular cutting off jobs given to illegal aliens.

Laredo, Texas
The International Relations Subcommittee on International Terrorism and Nonproliferation, Chaired by Congressman Edward Royce (R-CA) held a second border security hearing entitled "Border Vulnerabilities and International Terrorism, Part II" on July 7, 2006, in Laredo, Texas. Reynaldo Garza, acting Border Patrol chief of the Laredo sector, testified that he worries about possible links between drug cartels and terrorists. "Terrorists and violent criminals may exploit smuggling routes used by migrants to enter the United States illegally and do us harm," he said. Congressman Ted Poe, a Texas Republican, said that if the U.S. is protecting the borders of other nations, it should also be protecting its own. "It's a national security issue to protect our borders from those who wish to do us harm," he said.

Miami, Florida
The Senate Armed Services Committee held a field hearing July 10, 2006 in Miami, Florida to publicize immigrants' roles in the U.S. military. Committee Chairman John Warner (R-VA) and Senator John McCain (R-AZ) presided over the hearing that brought not only the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Peter Pace to testify, but also the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, David Chu. The scripted hearing pointed to the large contributions of foreign-born soldiers in the war on terror. The Senators at the hearing criticized the House enforcement-only bill, charging it would dishonor the immigrants who served in the armed forces and promote the expansive guest worker amnesty the Senate passed in May. The hearing did not release data on how many illegal aliens were in the U.S. military, but did note the 24,400 non-U.S. citizens that are currently on active duty.

FAIR will continue to update you as to when and where more field hearings are scheduled.

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House GOP Release on Immigration Hearings
The following is the "House Republican Border Security Bulletin" released by the House GOP this week. FAIR is passing this on as an item of interest to our members.

House Hearings Demonstrate How the Reid-Kennedy Bill Would Put Americans at Risk
Law Enforcement and Experts Agree that Border Security Needs to be Priority

Last week's hearings held by the House Subcommittee on International Terrorism and Nonproliferation in San Diego, California and Laredo, Texas demonstrated how the Reid-Kennedy Senate immigration bill would put Americans at risk. Members of Congress heard testimony from border patrol agents, local law enforcement officers, homeland security officials, government investigators and other experts. Among the topics covered by the experts were: the 'terrorist loophole' that exists in the Reid-Kennedy bill; how terrorists are able to exploit our weak borders; the inherent weaknesses in our current border security system; and how border security needs to be the top priority for Congress.

The 'Terrorist Loophole' in the Reid-Kennedy Bill Would Make It Harder to Arrest or Detain Potential Terrorists

During the hearing in San Diego, law professor Kris Kobach testified about the terrorist loophole in the Reid-Kennedy Immigration bill. This loophole would put limitations on federal, state and local law enforcement and be counterproductive to the war on terror.

"Buried deeply in the Senate Bill is a provision that would disarm America's state and local police in the war against terrorism. Section 240D contains a statement that would have the effect of barring state and local police officers from making arrests for civil violations of immigration law - precisely the sort of violations that terrorists have demonstrated a propensity to commit." -Kris W. Kobach, Professor of Law, University of Missouri - Kansas City School of Law

"In the aftermath of the [9/11] attack, we learned that five of the nineteen hijackers had violated federal immigration laws while they were in the United States. All five terrorists committed civil, not criminal, immigration violations. Amazingly, four of the five were actually stopped by local police for speeding. All four terrorists could have been arrested, if the police officers had asked the right questions and realized that they were illegal aliens." -Kris W. Kobach, Professor of Law, University of Missouri -- Kansas City School of Law

Terrorists are Already Exploiting our Weak Borders

At the hearings, it was revealed that law enforcement officers, border security agents, and government officials agree that terrorists have access to the same mechanisms and tactics being employed by drug smugglers. Furthermore, terrorists are not just aware of our nation's weak borders, they already are exploiting them.

"On July 19, 2004, [Al Qaeda terrorist Farida] Ahmed was arrested in McAllen, Texas after crossing into the United States three days earlier. She had waded across the Rio Grande, and was bound for New York City. Terrorists know all about our porous southern border, and these cases demonstrate how effectively they have exploited it." -Kris W. Kobach, Professor of Law, University of Missouri - Kansas City School of Law

"The nexus between our post September 11th mission and our traditional role is clear, terrorists and violent criminals may exploit smuggling routes used by migrants to enter the United States illegally and do us harm." -Reynaldo Garza, Chief Patrol Agent Laredo Sector, Office of Border Patrol

"Many experts agree that Al Qaeda has studied narcotics traffickers and it is suspected that there are established ties between the two." -Sheriff Bill Kolender, San Diego County

"Last year, about 155,000 illegal aliens from countries other than Mexico were apprehended by the Border Patrol, and many of them were released into the streets of America because of a lack of detention funds. Of that total number, a few hundred were categorized as 'special interest aliens' because they are from countries where terrorist groups that pose a threat to the United States are actively operating." -TJ Bonner, National President, National Border Patrol Council, American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO

Our Borders are Alarmingly Porous

Witnesses at the hearings emphasized the porous state of our southern border. They highlighted the easy routes above and below ground that illegal immigrants take with little risk of apprehension.

"At any given time, daytime or nighttime, one can get on a boat and traverse back and forth between Texas and Mexico and not get caught. If smugglers can bring in tons of marijuana and cocaine at one time, and can smuggle 20-30 persons at one time, one can just imagine how easy it would be to bring in 2-3 terrorists or their weapons of mass destruction across the river and not be detected. Chances of apprehension are very slim." -Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez, Zapata County, Texas

"GAO's investigators, using counterfeit documents, were able to enter the United States with enough radioactive sources in the trunks of their vehicles to make two dirty bombs." -Gregory D. Kutz, Managing Director, Forensic Audits and Special Investigations, Government Accountability Office (GAO)

"Experts from both private and public sectors agree that the porous southwest border is an inviting avenue of illegal entry for possible terrorists. In 2005 and 2006 there were five border tunnels located in San Diego County running from Mexico into the United States. While it is known that these tunnels were used primarily to smuggle illicit drugs, the same could easily be said for the smuggling of human cargo to possibly include terrorists." -Sheriff Bill Kolender, San Diego County

Border Security is Homeland Security, and Needs to be the Top Priority

Law enforcement officials agree with House Republicans that securing our borders needs to be the top priority.

"You know, we are worried about immigration, immigration shouldn't even be a priority here, it should be border security, and the only way we can have homeland security is to have border security. Put immigration second or third. Right now we need to protect our border." -Sheriff Rick Flores, Webb County Texas

"There cannot be homeland security without border security. Our southwest border needs immediate attention." -Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez, Zapata County, Texas

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Press Release
House Immigration Hearings Focus on Protecting American Security, Senate Hearing Focuses on Protecting Special Interests July 7, 2006
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