Thread: Ohio leaders dealing with immigration issues visit border

Ohio leaders dealing with immigration issues visit border
Ed Tribble
Oct 12, 2007 06:35 PM PDT

This week some Ohio leaders paid a visit to the Cochise County sheriff, hoping to learn something about immigration.

They are seeing an increase in crime and a change in their own economy because of illegal immigrants from Mexico migrating to the Midwest.

The U.S. border near Naco might seem like a long way from Butler County, Ohio, but for Sheriff Richard Jones, border issues hit close to home.

"I have enough criminals of my own. I don't need someone to dump criminals on me that shouldn't be here," Jones says.

He says he's seeing large amounts of drugs coming in from the Tucson sector of the border, along with an increase in illegal immigrants in his county. He says they hurt the local economy.

"The influx is coming in and taking jobs away, and they're coming in and underbidding the people in our community for jobs," Jones says.

To get a better idea of where the problems are coming from, he and a local lawmaker are visiting Cochise County to see the immigration issue's front line.

"My intent is to go back to Columbus, Ohio and say 'I've been there, I know what it is. And until you see it, you don't have a clue,'" says Ohio State Rep. Courtney Combs

They say the vastness of the border surprised them more than they imagined. It's one of many preconceived notions shattered by visiting the border and talking to the people who live with its issues everyday.

"I need to be able to see this myself, that's why I'm here," Jones says.

The Cochise County sheriff says local leaders from other places are welcome to visit and see the problems on the border.

http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=7207911&nav=HMO6HMaW

That is a great idea-EVERY elected official should visit border cities to see what their towns will be like within the next 5 years!
That Sherriff Jones from Butler County is real keeper, looking out for his citizens like that! I've never heard a law officer say they were concerned with the loss of legal citizens jobs.Haven't really heard any county officials that were concerned about their constituents jobs for that matter.
Way to go Sheriff Jones

Rawhide!

Ohio legislator, sheriff tour border

By XAVIER ZARAGOZA/The Daily Dispatch

Oct 13, 2007

An Ohio state legislator and sheriff toured the border here on a fact-finding mission Friday.

State legislator Courtney Combs, Sheriff Richard Jones of Butler County, and Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever, traveled the length of the border in Douglas.

The group also toured the Border Patrol station in Douglas, the Douglas Port of Entry, the Naco Port of Entry, Fort Huachuca and the area between those points.

The reason Combs and Jones came to the border was to get a better grasp of the border and illegal immigration as it is beginning to affect their community.

Jones, the Butler County Sheriff, said his community has seen a rise in crime and drug distribution as a result of the increase of immigrants.

"We're being invaded," Jones said. Advertisement

Jones said that about 10 percent of his detainees are illegal immigrants.

"I've seen the rise of meth and other drugs and they're all coming from Mexico," he said.

Combs said he has introduced legislation in Ohio that would put a stop to the problems illegal immigrants are creating there.

On their tour of the border, both Combs and Jones said they did not see any migrants crossing the border. They did, though, see lots of Border Patrol footage of migrant crossings.

For Combs and Jones the only way to solve the immigration issue is by sealing the border.

"That's the only way you're going to stop it," Jones said.

When The Daily Dispatch asked the two men if the Canadian border posed a threat, both said it did.

"But I'm not seeing the drugs coming from there," Jones said. "There coming from Mexico."

http://www.douglasdispatch.com/articles ... /news2.txt

Sheriff, state rep. travel to border
Pair say problems are following illegal immigrants into U.S.
By Lauren Pack

Staff Writer

Saturday, October 20, 2007

HAMILTON — Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones and State Rep. Courtney Combs are vocal advocates of stopping illegal immigration the sheriff says is flooding the country — including his county — with crime and drugs.

Last week, the duo took "a run to the border" to see firsthand the problems along the nation's entry points.

Combs and Jones spent three days in Cochise County, Ariz., where the United States meets Mexico.

"The problem is 100 percent worse than I thought it was," Jones said. "Instead of visiting Iran and Iraq, I think our political leaders should visit the borders of our country, see what is really happening."

Jones met the Arizona border county's Sheriff Larry Dever while they were serving on the National Sheriff's Association's committee addressing immigration.

Talks with officers and the border patrol officers revealed facts that even startled Jones and Combs.

In areas, Jones said the border fence was substantial, but in others, it was barely more than three wires built to keep out cattle, not people.

"They told us they stop 300 a night. They estimate they miss another 1,000 a day," Jones said.

"I had no idea the enormity of the problem. I thought I did, but I really didn't," Jones said.

Illegal immigrants en route across the border leave trash, belongings and human waste in the surrounding countryside, Combs said.

"One place we saw looked like an open dump. All the wildlife is gone," he said. "Where's the Sierra Club putting an end to that? They are stopping the fence because they say it is destroying the terrain."

Both Jones and Combs noted the problem may be most visible at the border, but illegal immigrants are not staying in border states, they are pushing north and bringing crime and drug trafficking with them, he said.

"We saw some scary things," Combs said. "It was very educational."

This summer Combs introduced a immigration reform bill in the Ohio House aimed at attempting to control the problem at the state level. He said the bill should get a committee assignment "very soon."

Jones noted the trip was not paid for by taxpayer's money, but he said he thinks he could rightfully have done so.

"This is a national problem. The federal government has failed us," Jones said. "I wanted to be able say I have been there and seen it myself."


Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2148 or lpack@coxohio.com.

http://www.journal-news.com/hp/content/ ... order.html

And GWB continues to allow this to occur. He has been a disaster in so many ways.

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Call the Senate: NO Dream Act Amnesty !