Thread: US Senate panel to focus on border security

US Senate panel to focus on border security

Tuesday, April 20, 2010 3:00 am

A U.S. Senate committee will hold a hearing Tuesday morning in Washington that will focus on the government's plans for securing the Southwest border and the potential for spillover violence from Mexico's drug war.

In the past, state and local officials have said the federal government hasn't done enough to combat smuggling and related violence, leaving communities vulnerable to a litany of crimes committed by traffickers and a heavy bill from the social costs of a porous border.

Speakers at the hearing will include Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever, Mayor Octavio Garcia Van-Borstel of Nogales, Ariz., and Mayor Jose Angel Hernandez Barajas of the Mexico border town of Nogales.

http://azstarnet.com/news/state-and-reg ... 96f83.html

Another useless dog and pony show...All those so called Mayors are open borders proponents. Nothing will be done because cheap labor and more voters trump the safety and welfare of the American people......

and why is the mayor of nogales, MEX speaking before hearings?
anyone wanna bet he is going to say fences are a bad thing

Here are the details, links to webcast and testimony:


Border Security: Moving Beyond the Virtual Fence
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
11:00 AM
Dirksen Senate Office Building, room 342

[view archive webcast]:

http://www.senate.gov/fplayers/I2009/ur ... 0&dur=8955

Member Statements

•Senator Joseph I. Lieberman [View PDF]:
Senator John McCain [View PDF]

http://hsgac.senate.gov/public/index.cf ... 9f3e16ba90

Witnesses

Panel 1

•The Honorable Alan D. Bersin
Commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
[view testimony]:

http://hsgac.senate.gov/public/index.cf ... 1acefcaf98

Panel 2

•The Honorable Dennis K. Burke
U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona
U.S. Department of Justice
[view testimony]:

http://hsgac.senate.gov/public/index.cf ... 97e2cc01a3

•The Honorable Octavio Garcia-Von Borstel
Mayor
City of Nogales, Arizona
[view testimony]:

http://hsgac.senate.gov/public/index.cf ... 5d8f15ecba

•Larry A. Dever
Sheriff
County of Cochise, Arizona
[view testimony]:

http://hsgac.senate.gov/public/index.cf ... 9bb5cea3be


http://hsgac.senate.gov/public/index.cf ... 51c7b1ef16

Originally Posted by jamesw62

and why is the mayor of nogales, MEX speaking before hearings?
anyone wanna bet he is going to say fences are a bad thing

That was the mayor on Nogales, AZ

I watched the panel SLAM the senators, and the senators slammed the CBP comissioner.

If this has been posted before please let me know but searched and didn't find it. Thank you.
~~~

Ariz. officials: Border violence is worsening

By JACQUES BILLEAUD | Posted: Tuesday, April 20, 2010 2:19 pm | (0)
Officials from Arizona told U.S. senators on Tuesday that drug and immigrant smuggling violence along the U.S.-Mexico border has worsened over the last year.

The officials told senators at a hearing in Washington that the United States hasn't seen the level of violence that Mexico is experiencing in its war against drug cartels. But criminals headed back to Mexico commit burglaries and home invasions along remote stretches of border, illegal immigrants are robbed and assaulted in their journey into the U.S. Drug and immigrant smugglers who have more limited trafficking routes also are stealing from each other and kidnapping rivals in Arizona, a busy hub for transporting illegal immigrants and marijuana into the United States.

"It is worse, and it is getting worse," Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever said of the violence.

The purpose of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee's hearing was to see what federal, state and local officials can do to control the border, said Sen. Joe Lieberman, the independent from Connecticut who is the leader of committee.

Alan Bersin, commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said the Obama administration came up with a plan more than a year ago to keep violence from spilling across the border.

Those efforts include trying to stop drug smugglers from sneaking guns and cash back into Mexico and having American prosecutors work with their Mexican counterparts to make sure smugglers are punished.

Under questioning from Lieberman, Bersin said 600 miles of border fencing and a $770 million network of cameras, ground sensors and radars known as the "virtual fence" weren't stopping the flow of illegal immigrants into the country. "It doesn't seal the border," Bersin said.

Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, a member of the committee, advocated sending National Guard troops to the border to improve border security.

The latest major example of border violence cited at the hearing was the March 27 death of rancher Robert Krentz, who was shot on his ranch near Douglas, Ariz. Authorities provided a few details into the investigation of his death.

Dever, whose office is investigating the killing, said the rancher is believed to have been killed by an illegal immigrant who was headed back to Mexico and worked as a scout for drug smugglers. Scouts generally serve as mountaintop lookouts for drug smugglers, instructing the drivers for smuggling rings to pull over and hide when authorities are nearby.

Dennis Burke, U.S. attorney for Arizona, said federal authorities were culling its cases from the area of the killing to look for leads. Burke said it's too early to link Krentz's killing to a particular smuggling group.

After hearing a crushing amount of statistics on the massive volume of drugs seized and illegal immigrants arrested in Arizona, Dever said, "All of it added up to a big fat zero for Rob Krentz."

http://oneoldvet.com/

http://azdailysun.com

Sheriff Larry Dever was a great talking point on Greta tonite when McAmnesty tried in vain to appease the voters.

Sheriff Dever is a real patriot.

Added to Homepage:
http://www.alipac.us/article-5167--0-0.html

Why hasn't congress been focused on border security ever since the Reagan amnesty in 1986?

While the federal government holds hearings, and more Americans are damaged by illegal immigration, AZ is bold enough to propose, and hopefully enact, legislation to address this serious problem.