Thread: CA: McNerney to lead trip to U.S.-Mexico border

McNerney to lead trip to U.S.-Mexico border
By News-Sentinel staff
Updated: Friday, January 11, 2008 11:53 AM PST


Congressman Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, announced today that he will lead a two-day Congressional delegation to the border between California and Mexico.

According to a statement released by McNerney's office, the trip will serve as a "fact-finding" mission for McNerney and others to gain a firsthand perspective from U.S. Border Patrol agents about what is working and what isn't in stemming the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs.

The trip will take place on Sunday and Monday. It will include a briefing on a number of different aspects of the border control operation in the San Diego Sector, which covers 66 linear miles of the international boundary with Mexico, along with a tour of a portion of the border and meetings with border patrol agents. The trip will include tours of several ports of entry along the border, a meeting with the San Diego sector chief, and an introduction to the various specialty teams and the equipment used to monitor and patrol the border.

"Illegal immigration and drug trafficking are significant problems," McNerney said in the statement. "This trip to the border is important because you can only understand so much from reading the newspaper, watching television, or even reading briefings or hearing testimony from experts. Sometimes, it's important to actually go and see it for yourself.

"In particular, I am looking forward to talking to Border Patrol Agents and California National Guard troops who serve on the front lines."


http://www.lodinews.com/articles/2008/0 ... rn-web.txt

Maybe some drug runners will run over them! They sure can't see them with their head stuck in the sand!

Originally Posted by jean

about what is working and what isn't in stemming the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs

Well, here is two problems why: an idiot president, and a small handful of sell out senators.

Amen Wilro. How many other trips to the border is it going to take for these Idiots to see why the illegals are still able to come and go at will? They already know why. Our immigration laws that are already on the books are just not being enforced. Its time for these people to do what they are paid to do, and that is the will of the American people. Bush's war on terror is just a fake as he is and thats the truth. He could care less about the security of this country and he knows it.

What this "fact finding" trip needs to include is a visit to the area where our BP agents are being attacked daily from the other side of the border.

This is McNerney's first term in office. Within a month of being elected he came to my town for a so called Town Meeting. I was there to tell him my feelings about illegal immigration and how it was affecting our schools. Several others joined in and he got a ear full. Being new he seemed genuinely interested, but his staff didn't seem to want him listening. I have been watching how he is voting and overall he has been voting on our side.

If he leaves certain staff members home the trip might do him some good.

Every elected official, be it state or federal, should go down to the border and talk with the Border Patrol imo.

Border Tour Forces Congressman to Call for Immigration Reform
Written for the web by Dave Marquis, Reporter

Jan 14, 2008

For two days, Congressman Jerry McNerney, (D) District 11, toured the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the busiest land border port in the U.S. For over a decade U.S. policy on the southern border has shifted from catching and returning those who cross illegally, to making the border impossible to cross in the first place.

McNerney says he's convinced the effort is working. "Earlier pictures of aliens flowing across the border unchecked, versus what's happening now. It is a deterrence. The people know that they're gonna get caught," he said.

McNerney believes immigration reform must come from many directions. He's co-sponsoring the Secure America Through Verification and Enforcement or SAVE Act. The plan would add 8,000 border patrol agents, fund new technology to secure the border and give businesses the tools they need to be sure workers are here legally.

The Congressman is also co-sponsor of the AgJOBS bill, to create a legal, federally overseen program to allow agriculture workers temporary work visas. He said many farmers in his district need a secure labor pool. "They have told me, one or two more years of this problem, not having workers, is going to put them out of business."

McNerney believes there must be enforcement to make sure employers do not hire illegal workers, but he adds Congress must also find a way to build broad, bipartisan support for balanced immigration reform.

http://www.news10.net/display_story.aspx?storyid=37351