Posted: Wed Jul 12, 2006 5:47 am Post subject: People who sneak across the border are no longer good people
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http://www.washingtontimes.com/national ... -9229r.htm
House told criminals swelling alien tide
By Charles Hurt
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
July 8, 2006
Most of the people who sneak across the border are no longer good people in search of honest work, the sheriff of a border county in Texas told a House subcommittee yesterday, but rather criminals who belong to gangs and drug cartels.
"For years we have seen individuals enter the country illegally," said Sigifredo Gonzalez Jr., sheriff of Zapata County. "However, recently we feel that many of these persons are no longer entering the country to look for legitimate employment. We are now seeing that many of these persons are members of ruthless and violent gangs."
Sheriff Gonzalez's testimony before the House International Relations subcommittee was part of a series of "field hearings" held across the country to gauge voter opinion on reforming the nation's immigration laws. Yesterday's hearing was held in Laredo, in Zapata County.
"Some areas can accurately be described as a war zone," panel Chairman Ed Royce, California Republican, told The Washington Times after touring the border near Laredo.