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American Hispanics Bring Border Sheriffs to Washington to Demand that Congress Deal With Border Crisis and Immigration Enforcement

WASHINGTON, July 14 /PRNewswire/ -- You Don't Speak for Me! a coalition
of American Hispanics, accompanied by two Texas border sheriffs will arrive
on Capitol Hill next Tuesday to counter a lobbying effort by illegal aliens
and their supporters pressing for a sweeping amnesty. They will be carrying
a simple message for Congress and the Bush Administration: Secure our
borders and enforce our immigration laws. Sheriffs Arvin West of Hudspeth
County and Sigifredo Gonzalez of Zapata County, and You Don't Speak for
Me!, will join Representatives Walter B. Jones (R-N.C.), Brian Bilbray
(R-Calif.), Virgil Goode (R-Va.) and other House members for a Capitol Hill
news conference to discuss the urgent need for immediate enactment of
immigration enforcement and border security legislation.
The news conference will take place on July 18 in Room 2456, Rayburn
House Office Building at 11:00 am.
"On Wednesday, members of Congress and the media will hear from illegal
aliens and their supporters who will be demanding an immediate amnesty for
millions of immigration law violators," said Col. Al Rodriguez, chairman of
YDSFM and the organizer of the new conference. "Last week, another border
sheriff, testifying at a congressional hearing held in San Diego, described
the 'war' that is raging along our southern border. We believe that the
first and only order of business for Congress must be to address this
security crisis, not a massive amnesty and guest worker program to satisfy
the demands of illegal aliens and their employers."
Sheriff West, whose deputies battle organized crime gangs and even
incursions by Mexican military personnel believed to providing support to
cross border smugglers, will describe conditions along the border and
provide photographic documentation of the crisis his department is dealing
with. Sheriff Gonzalez will detail the violence and crime in Zapata County
and the threat to national security resulting from the border crisis along
the border. The two law enforcement officials represent the 16-member
Border Sheriffs Coalition, which was formed as a result of the federal
government's failure to protect the borders.
"America's security is being compromised, our citizens along the border
live in a state of fear, and our law enforcement personnel are under
assault. It's time for action, not talk; enforcement, not amnesty," said
Claudia Spencer, vice chair of YDSFM. "The voices that Congress needs to be
listening to are those of people like Sheriffs West and Gonzalez who are on
the front lines of what their colleague has described as a state of war.
The Hispanic voices that Congress needs to hear are those of American
citizens who live under a state siege, or who have lost jobs, wages and
opportunities to illegal aliens who are pouring into our country. Congress
and the White House need to protect our interests and security, not reward
millions of illegal aliens with amnesty."
The sheriffs and representatives of YDSFM will join Representatives
Jones, Bilbray and others in urging the immediate ratification of H.R.
4437, the House immigration enforcement bill, by the Senate. "What Sheriffs
West and Gonzales and their deputies are encountering on a daily basis is a
threat to our homeland security of the highest order. We can see no higher
order of business for Congress other than to address what can only be
described as a national crisis," Rodriguez stated.


SOURCE You Don't Speak for Me!