Thread: House panel hears worries about illegal immigration, crime

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/met ... 21977.html

Aug. 16, 2006, 5:09PM

House panel hears worries about illegal immigration, crime
By JUAN A. LOZANO
Associated Press

Amid videos of violent standoffs in Mexico between drug cartels and authorities and tearful testimony from the mother of a murder victim, a congressional committee heard today about the impact of illegal immigration on crime in the United States.

A U.S. House subcommittee heard from local, state and federal officials on criminal activity and violence along the southern border.

The five-hour hearing was one of about two dozen around the country this month as Congress continues working on immigration reform.

Activists from both sides of the immigration debate stood outside the courthouse where the hearing was held, chanting and holding up signs that read, "Fight Ignorance Not Immigrants!" and "Stop the Invasion. Protect Our Borders Now."

Those who testified included Texas Homeland Security Director Steve McCraw, officials with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and victims of crimes committed by illegal immigrants.

Sheriff Rick Flores of Webb County narrated for the committee a video shot by Mexican officials from 1992 of a gunfight between drug cartels in the Mexican city of Nuevo Laredo, directly across the border from Laredo. The video showed burning cars that had been hit by grenades and dead bodies on the street.

Flores said he worries such violence could spill into Laredo.

"We do not have the resources along the border to protect our" communities, he said.

But after his testimony, Flores told reporters that securing the border and stopping illegal immigration were two different things to him.

"To me (securing the border) means more vigilance and assisting in (stopping) border violence," he said.

U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, subcommittee chairman, said the video Flores narrated showed "violence across the border that impacts our nation."

The committee also heard from Carrie Ruiz, a Houston resident who described how her 17-year-old daughter was murdered in October 1999 by an illegal immigrant from Venezuela who escaped prosecution by returning to his home country.

Ruiz's daughter was stabbed more than 39 times after she helped authorities identify a gang member.

"All you hear is they are so good for the economy," a tearful Ruiz said of illegal immigrants. "What about those who commit violent crimes? Not all of them are here to get a job and support their families. We need to do something about it."

The Rev. Kevin Collins, pastor at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Houston who had joined in protests outside, said he believed Wednesday's hearing was being held to spread misinformation about immigrants.

"They are painting pictures of immigrants as criminals," he said.

Houston police and Harris County Sheriff's Department officials said their agencies arrest illegal immigrants when they commit crimes but do not pursue people on suspicion of being in the country illegally.

Texas prison officials told the committee that of the 152,000 inmates in the state's prison system, more than 11,600 claimed foreign birth but the exact number of offenders who are illegal immigrants on any given day was unknown.

Officials with Harris County, the state's largest, said they process 130,000 prisoners each year and about 20 percent of them report they are foreign-born or non-U.S. citizens.

Wednesday's hearing came after the Senate passed a bipartisan immigration bill earlier this year offering a chance at citizenship to millions of illegal immigrants.

The House passed its own bill in December 2005, which does not include a path to citizenship and makes all illegal immigrants in the country subject to felony prosecution.

McCaul said the hearing was a way to have public discussion on the immigration issue.

But mayors from Texas border cities complained during a separate teleconference Wednesday they were shut out of the hearings.

"There is not a lot of hearing from local officials," said Mayor John Cook of El Paso, the largest American city on the U.S.-Mexico border. "I don't think it's really inclusive of people on the border."

McAllen Mayor Richard Cortez said the only way to solve illegal immigration was to remove the politics from the debate.

The ongoing hearings have been criticized as a political maneuver to delay immigration legislation and to help Republican candidates in an election year.

An estimated 12 million immigrants are illegally living in the United States, and the Bush administration has urged Congress to enact a temporary worker program to allow at least some of them to remain.

The Rev. Kevin Collins, pastor at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Houston who had joined in protests outside, said he believed Wednesday's hearing was being held to spread misinformation about immigrants.
"They are painting pictures of immigrants as criminals," he said.

Just what in heaven's name is all this "misinformation?" Guess they mean facts! No need for picture painting.....they are criminals!!