Thread: Alberto Gonzales pushes reforms during El Paso visit

http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_4076988

Article Launched: 7/21/2006 12:00 AM


Gonzales pushes reforms during El Paso visit

By Louie Gilot / El Paso Times
El Paso Times

U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said he still has hopes that immigration reform legislation - with increased money for border security, a guest-worker program and a path to legalization - will pass this year, even as the process is stalled in Congress.

"We haven't given up," Gonzales said Thursday during a visit to El Paso. "This is a very difficult issue, and obviously it's a very emotional issue that implicates economics, implicates politics because it is an election year, and implicates national security. We're talking about family and values. So we understand it's a very difficult issue, but it's too important to let it continue to be unsolved."

While Gonzales spoke to the news media, House members in Washington, D.C., had another hearing revisiting the finer points of the immigration debate, a strategy that some Democrats such as Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, called a stalling tactic. Thursday, lawmakers grappled with whether to build a fence along hundreds of miles on the nation's southern border, weighing combating illegal immigration against a costly barrier that alone might not stop migrants.

The hearings are scheduled to continue through the summer and include one Aug. 17 in El Paso at a place not yet announced.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., who will visit El Paso on Saturday, said legislative efforts to establish any kind of amnesty without ensuring borders are secured would be premature.

"The first logical common-sense answer is to make sure our borders are no longer a sieve," he said in a phone interview. "After that, we may be able to look at some other metrics and some other options."

Hastert is expected to visit Yuma, Ariz., and Nogales, Ariz., then be in El Paso on Saturday morning. In El Paso he plans to tour the Bridge of the Americas and meet with local officials of the Department of Homeland Security, the Drug Enforcement Administration and other ports of entry personnel.

Thursday, Gonzales said that immigration reform needed to be comprehensive but that President Bush is indeed aware of problems with border security.

"In meetings with the president of the United States, this is an issue the president brings up: 'How're we doing on the border? What are we doing to secure our border and make America safe?' " he said.

Gonzales took a driving tour of the river levee with the Border Patrol on Wednesday night and a helicopter tour over Fabens and Sunland Park on Thursday morning. He was on his way to California. He said his purpose in El Paso was to visit with and get input from local law enforcement officials and his prosecutors.

Sheriff Leo Samaniego, who is part of a coalition of border sheriffs seeking federal money for securing the border, took advantage of the meeting.

"I told him the federal government has not done enough to secure the border," he said. "And I made it clear we should be part of the solution. He was very receptive."

The administration is still harboring hopes that the stalled negotiations between legislators in the House and Senate could resume this year but probably not before the November elections.

"The president remains committed to working with Congress to achieve something this year," Gonzales said. "He thinks it's something that can be accomplished this year. It needs to be accomplished this year because it deals with the national security of our country."

Gonzales also said that recent increases in border security such as Operation Jump Start - the deployment of hundreds of National Guard soldiers to help the Border Patrol - might have contributed to drug violence in Mexico.

"We think actually, quite frankly, that the success that we are seeing in securing our borders has caused the violence to rise. I think it's causing tension," he said, adding that the U.S. would work with Mexican authorities to help resolve the situation. "We have an obligation to do that, to ensure that as we are doing our job in securing the border, the people can live in these communities without fear of additional violence."

Gonzales' visit coincided with the indictment of a Fabens man who allegedly failed to seek medical help for a 14-year-old Salvadoran girl he smuggled into the United States. "This disregard for life is unacceptable," Gonzales said about the case.

Immigration cases topped all other kinds of federal prosecutions, followed by drug cases, Gonzales said.

About undocumented immigrants, Gonzales said, "There is a reason people are coming into our country illegally. Obviously they are seeking a better life. I understand that and I appreciate that; my grandparents came from Mexico, but we are a nation of law and . immigration needs to occur pursuant to our laws."

In May, Gonzales said on CNN that he wasn't sure that his grandparents came over from Mexico legally. Gonzales is the first Hispanic U.S. attorney general.

About terrorism, he said, "We are clearly safer today than we were on 9/11, but we are not yet safe."

Louie Gilot may be reached at lgilot@elpasotimes.com; 546-6131.

El Paso Times reporter Darren Meritz contributed to this story.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Audio of Gonzales 20 min. press conference(22mb download)

Originally Posted by Brian503a

http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_4076988

Article Launched: 7/21/2006 12:00 AM


Gonzales pushes reforms during El Paso visit

By Louie Gilot / El Paso Times
El Paso Times

U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said he still has hopes that immigration reform legislation - with increased money for border security, a guest-worker program and a path to legalization - will pass this year, even as the process is stalled in Congress.

"We haven't given up," Gonzales said Thursday during a visit to El Paso. "This is a very difficult issue, and obviously it's a very emotional issue that implicates economics, implicates politics because it is an election year, and implicates national security. We're talking about family and values. So we understand it's a very difficult issue, but it's too important to let it continue to be unsolved."

While Gonzales spoke to the news media, House members in Washington, D.C., had another hearing revisiting the finer points of the immigration debate, a strategy that some Democrats such as Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, called a stalling tactic. Thursday, lawmakers grappled with whether to build a fence along hundreds of miles on the nation's southern border, weighing combating illegal immigration against a costly barrier that alone might not stop migrants.

The hearings are scheduled to continue through the summer and include one Aug. 17 in El Paso at a place not yet announced.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., who will visit El Paso on Saturday, said legislative efforts to establish any kind of amnesty without ensuring borders are secured would be premature.

"The first logical common-sense answer is to make sure our borders are no longer a sieve," he said in a phone interview. "After that, we may be able to look at some other metrics and some other options."

Hastert is expected to visit Yuma, Ariz., and Nogales, Ariz., then be in El Paso on Saturday morning. In El Paso he plans to tour the Bridge of the Americas and meet with local officials of the Department of Homeland Security, the Drug Enforcement Administration and other ports of entry personnel.

Thursday, Gonzales said that immigration reform needed to be comprehensive but that President Bush is indeed aware of problems with border security.

"In meetings with the president of the United States, this is an issue the president brings up: 'How're we doing on the border? What are we doing to secure our border and make America safe?' " he said.

Gonzales took a driving tour of the river levee with the Border Patrol on Wednesday night and a helicopter tour over Fabens and Sunland Park on Thursday morning. He was on his way to California. He said his purpose in El Paso was to visit with and get input from local law enforcement officials and his prosecutors.

Sheriff Leo Samaniego, who is part of a coalition of border sheriffs seeking federal money for securing the border, took advantage of the meeting.

"I told him the federal government has not done enough to secure the border," he said. "And I made it clear we should be part of the solution. He was very receptive."

The administration is still harboring hopes that the stalled negotiations between legislators in the House and Senate could resume this year but probably not before the November elections.

"The president remains committed to working with Congress to achieve something this year," Gonzales said. "He thinks it's something that can be accomplished this year. It needs to be accomplished this year because it deals with the national security of our country."

Gonzales also said that recent increases in border security such as Operation Jump Start - the deployment of hundreds of National Guard soldiers to help the Border Patrol - might have contributed to drug violence in Mexico.

"We think actually, quite frankly, that the success that we are seeing in securing our borders has caused the violence to rise. I think it's causing tension," he said, adding that the U.S. would work with Mexican authorities to help resolve the situation. "We have an obligation to do that, to ensure that as we are doing our job in securing the border, the people can live in these communities without fear of additional violence."

Gonzales' visit coincided with the indictment of a Fabens man who allegedly failed to seek medical help for a 14-year-old Salvadoran girl he smuggled into the United States. "This disregard for life is unacceptable," Gonzales said about the case.

Immigration cases topped all other kinds of federal prosecutions, followed by drug cases, Gonzales said.

About undocumented immigrants, Gonzales said, "There is a reason people are coming into our country illegally. Obviously they are seeking a better life. I understand that and I appreciate that; my grandparents came from Mexico, but we are a nation of law and . immigration needs to occur pursuant to our laws."

In May, Gonzales said on CNN that he wasn't sure that his grandparents came over from Mexico legally. Gonzales is the first Hispanic U.S. attorney general.

About terrorism, he said, "We are clearly safer today than we were on 9/11, but we are not yet safe."

Louie Gilot may be reached at lgilot@elpasotimes.com; 546-6131.

El Paso Times reporter Darren Meritz contributed to this story.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Audio of Gonzales 20 min. press conference(22mb download)

Isn`t it odd that all of those in favor of unlimited freedom for Illegals have a
Mexican Sir Name,even those that hold office in our American Government.
They are all living under "Two Flag`s" They hold office in America,but do everything they can to help the people of the country of thier origin even at the cost of the country they hold office in,that being America.Two Faced comes to mind.These Ulterior Motives are undermining the American way of life and "g bush" is thier numero uno supporter...our so called Leader,what a joke he,"bush" is.How could any honest American support such a person as "bush"? Impossible for a real America to like "bush" even a little.Why would they?This Madness must stop soon,very soon.

About undocumented immigrants, Gonzales said, "There is a reason people are coming into our country illegally. Obviously they are seeking a better life (by robbing, mooching off and defrauding Americans). I understand that and I appreciate that (being as my descendants were lawbreakers too); my grandparents came from Mexico (illegaly), but we are (sometimes) a nation of law and immigration needs to occur pursuant to our laws, (that is except for illegals from Mexico, my true country of allegiance)."

Why is the chief law enforcement official in the land out pimping for amnesty legislation? Doesn't he already have a job, like enforcing the laws that already exist? But then again, being as he's a descedant of illegal aliens, I guess we can't expect he'd enforce the laws against his fellow illegal invaders.

About terrorism, he said, "We are clearly safer today than we were on 9/11, but we are not yet safe."

Then give up your amnesty plans and secure our borders now!

Reptile wrote:

Why is the chief law enforcement official in the land out pimping for amnesty legislation?

Because he's a LaRaza loving OPPORTUNIST.

Could RACE be an issue here, hmmmm?