Thread: Texas senators stress need to stop border violence

Texas senators stress need to stop Mexican violence from spreading to U.S.

07:56 AM CDT on Thursday, May 6, 2010

By TOM BENNING / The Dallas Morning News
tbenning@dallasnews.com

WASHINGTON – Texas Sens. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison pressed for more federal action Wednesday in securing the Mexican border and preventing violence from spilling over into the United States.

"We need to change the mindset here in Washington, D.C., that somehow we've done everything we need to do in terms of border security," Cornyn said.

The call for help came during a Senate hearing that gave a devastating rundown of the fallout from Mexico's brutal drug war. More than 22,000 drug-related murders in Mexico since 2007. Rising reports of home invasions and cross-border kidnappings. And the growing threat of spillover into Texas and other border states.

"We are in an emergency," Hutchison said. "We need manpower. We need help."

Border safety has taken on additional importance in recent weeks, as debate on immigration has intensified, and the urgency was emphasized by senators and law enforcement officials who gave testimony at the hearing before the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control.

Cornyn said a robust border plan was a prerequisite to any substantive immigration proposal, and he and others pointed out that the term of Mexican President Felipe Calderon, an ally in the battle against the cartels, ends in 2012.

"We don't know if the next president will have the same commitment to fight the cartels," Cornyn said.

Both Hutchison and Cornyn said they hoped the hearing would catch the attention of fellow lawmakers and provide the foundation for a border plan. But they also had specific criticisms, including a concern about the Federal Aviation Administration not yet authorizing the use of unmanned drones to fly over the Texas-Mexico border.

"It is unthinkable that the FAA has been dragging its feet," Hutchison said.

An FAA spokesman said the agency was in the process of reviewing that application, and that a meeting was being set with U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials.


http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... 68c2f.html

Why must Border Security be dependent on a Comprehensive Immigration Bill? American citizens are being killed and more are at risk every day. Yet, the stupid politicians continue to insist on legal status for criminal aliens in return for the safety of American citizens.

This is an outrage. I am getting out all my American Flag T-shirts, along with my Homeland Security T-shirt and will wear them as often as I can. We must stand up to the spineless president and his communist friends and say NO AMNESTY-EVER

No to comprehensive reform, yes to border security. In 2007 we told congress this. Time to tell them again.