Gingrey, Others heads for border

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
February 6, 2011
By Bob Keefe
WASHINGTON, D.C.

With the Georgia Legislature debating tough new restrictions on illegal immigrant workers, Republican Rep. Phil Gingrey of Marietta went straight to the epicenter of the immigration issue.

Gingrey and several other members of Congress just returned from a nearly three-day trip along the U.S.-Mexico border, stopping in Tucson and Nogales in Arizona and Columbus, N.M., where they talked to Border Patrol agents, residents and others about their concerns.

Gingrey is a staunch proponent of tougher immigration laws.

He has introduced or co-sponsored bills that will severely restrict how many family members a legal immigrant can sponsor for citizenship and eliminate the automatic birthright citizenship of children born to illegal immigrants in the United States.

Gingrey said he last visited the nation's southern border in 2006. A lot has changed since then --- including Georgia's rise to become the state with the seventh-largest number of illegal immigrants.

Gingrey told me that his most recent visit to the border did nothing to soften his thoughts or actions on getting tougher on immigration.

If anything, he said, increased incidents of severe violence along the border have made him more determined than ever.

"The big difference I see is the increased violence," Gingrey said.

"The border is more secure than it was in 2006, but it also is a much, much more dangerous situation down there now.

"I see the level of violent activity on the border steadily increasing, and I worry about a lot of that ending up in Atlanta," he added.

Accompanying Gingrey on his border trip were fellow Republican Reps. Steve King of Iowa and Ed Royce of California.

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