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    TX: Border security, commercemust balance, mayors say

    http://www.mywesttexas.com/site/news.cf ... 5626&rfi=6

    02/27/2007
    Border security, commercemust balance, mayors say
    Bob Campbell
    Staff Writer
    Midland Reporter-Telegram


    U.S. Rep. Mike Conaway and other members of Congress recently met in Laredo with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and a dozen area political leaders to review the complex trade, travel and security issues involved in curbing illegal immigration.



    Including Congressman Henry Cuellar of Laredo and U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, the Feb. 21 gathering aired the top concerns of everyone involved, Conaway said.


    "One thing I tried to emphasize was eradicating salt cedar up and down both sides of the Rio Grande," the Midland Republican said here Monday.


    "We may never find the money under the conservation title, but there may be money under Homeland Security," he said, explaining that illegal immigrants would find it harder to evade capture if the salt cedar were eliminated.


    Conaway said the river would also have more water without the water-ravenous plants.


    He said Cherthoff was impressed with the concern of border mayors and county judges that the area's burgeoning commerce is being slowed by security measures and would be more hampered if a wall were erected.


    "They think the customs side of the issue is being neglected in the zeal for border security," Conaway said. "The traffic was lined up five lanes bumper to bumper into Mexico. We couldn't see the end of it."


    He said U.S.-Mexico relations have improved with Mexico President Felipe Calderon's dispatch of military troops against rampaging drug cartels in Nuevo Laredo and Tijuana and the extradition of 15 wanted drug criminals to face American justice.


    "Vicente Fox wouldn't extradite them," said Conaway in reference to the president Calderon succeeded last December.


    He said fences are needed in Arizona where busloads of illegal immigrants "jump out and make a mad dash into the housing areas," but ground sensors and aerial surveillance craft preferred by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents are more appropriate for Texas' sparsely populated regions.


    "Secretary Cherthoff wants to listen about building infrastructure, but he was firm that he will not sacrifice safety to directly accommodate a local preference," Conaway said.


    "We must work together for the best possible comprehensive border plan to include securing our borders as well as come up with a well-organized plan to reform trade and customs."


    Mayors Raul Salinas of Laredo, Efrain Valdez of Del Rio, Beto Salinas of Mission, Richard Cortez of McAllen and Chad Foster of Eagle Pass also importuned Cornyn, who is the top minority member of the Senate Sub-committee on Immigration and Border Security.


    "Our nation's security is paramount, but we must ensure that any security measures are balanced with the goal of facilitating legitimate trade and travel," said Cornyn, who hosted a mid-January confab in Washington with Cherthoff, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and the border spokesmen.


    "We need to develop a quick, efficient process to identify those who may be a threat to national security while allowing legitimate, law-abiding travelers to enter and exit the U.S. in a timely manner," he said.
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  2. #2
    MW
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    "We need to develop a quick, efficient process to identify those who may be a threat to national security while allowing legitimate, law-abiding travelers to enter and exit the U.S. in a timely manner," he said.
    I noticed there is not mention of crimina aliens. It is no secret that Sen. Cornyn does not consider criminal aliens a threat to national security.

    "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" ** Edmund Burke**

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