Thread: Wisconsin lawmaker to tour Mexican border

Posted November 14, 2007

Wisconsin lawmaker to tour Mexican border

By ELLYN FERGUSON
Gannett News Service

WASHINGTON - Rep. Steve Kagen and seven other Democrats will head to the U.S.-Mexico border this weekend to see firsthand how America handles border security.

Kagen of Appleton leaves for the border on Sunday and returns Tuesday. He plans to meet with Border Patrol agents in Nogales, Ariz., inspect detainee facilities and observe vehicle and cargo inspections. Kagen will make a similar tour of Border Patrol facilities along the Rio Grande and in El Paso, Texas.

The first-term lawmaker said the trip would familiarize him with challenges facing agents along the 2,500-mile-long U.S.-Mexico border.

Senate efforts to pass a comprehensive bill that included border security and a pathway to legal residency and citizenship for illegal immigrants failed earlier this year.

The House is not expected to vote on immigration-related legislation this year, but the volatile issue of an estimated 12 million people here in the United States illegally could push immigration enforcement bills onto the congressional agenda.

For example, Kagen is among 100 Democrats and Republicans backing a bill that would require employers to verify their workers are in the United States legally.

Massachusetts Rep. Niki Tsongas, a lawmaker scheduled to make the border trip, knows the power of illegal immigration as a campaign issue.

Tsongas won a closer-than-expected special election in October against a Republican opponent who made illegal immigration a centerpiece of his campaign.


www.thenorthwestern.com

I hope he is wearing a ballistic vest and a Kevlar helmet

Originally Posted by AirborneSapper7

I hope he is wearing a ballistic vest and a Kevlar helmet

Aw, c'mon, we all know that they go in and "sterilize" the area before these guys ever land in their planes. They never see the real problem, just like Bush never actually has to see the protesters who try to come out when he comes to town. The view from their ivory towers is kept spotless and pretty just to maintain their denial.

Posted November 19, 2007


Kagen: Add more agents for Mexico border patrol

U.S. can ‘lock down’ border, lawmaker says

By Ellyn Ferguson
Press-Gazette Washington bureau
eferguson@greenbaypressgazette.com


WASHINGTON — Keeping illegal immigrants from crossing the U.S.-Mexico border is possible if Congress is willing to beef up the U.S. Border Patrol, Rep. Steve Kagen said today after spending a day with agents in Arizona.


Kagen, D-Appleton, inspected border facilities, rode with agents and watched the arrest of a man who tried to make a run across the border.

He also met with Wisconsin National Guard members who are in Arizona as part of Operation Jump Start. The Guard members perform administrative duties and other tasks so border agents will be free to conduct patrols. The Bush administration launched the effort in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas in 2006.

“There are so many people here trying to jump the border we need every agent,â€