KING ATTENDS FIELD IMMIGRATION HEARINGS
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WASHINGTON
- U.S. Congressman Steve King (IA-05) released the following
statement following the second House immigration field hearing, held
yesterday by the International Relations Subcommittee on Terrorism
in Laredo, Texas:
"It is crucial for Americans and Congress to hear this testimony by
witnesses who deal with the border situation everyday.
"The witnesses, who are border sheriffs, spoke about the
difficulties they have enforcing the border, and the numbers of
people that are pouring across the border here illegally are
increasing, as is crime. The crime across the river is intense, and
a sheriff testified the murders and the kidnappings that are taking
place there have been increasing month-by-month.
"But the focus of the hearing was on terrorism. '[A]t any given
time, daytime or nighttime, one can get on a boat and traverse back
and forth between Texas and Mexico and not get caught,' testified
Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzales, Jr. of Zapata County. 'If smugglers can
bring tons of marijuana and cocaine at one time, and can smuggle
20-30 persons at one time, one can just imagine how easy it would be
to bring in 2-3 terrorists or their weapons of mass destruction
across the river and not be detected. Chances of apprehension are
very slim,' concluded Gonzales.
"The witnesses also spoke about their experiences with the Mexican
military insurgents who have come into the United States. We learned
there is no question there is some support on the other side of the
river by the Mexican military.
"This field hearing was focused on the people pouring across that
are not Mexicans, and that number is increasing dramatically. In
these sectors, that number is well over fifty percent of the number
of people that are picked up. The number of illegal drugs that are
being shipped into the United States is also growing incrementally,
and the strength of the gangs, particularly the MS-13 gang, is
getting more and more powerful.
"It was in interesting mix of people that came from around the
border to attend the hearing, and it was crucial for the Members of
Congress to get a sense of the culture and the intensity of the
problems that they have."
The U.S. House is bringing the immigration reform debate out of
Washington and to the American people through a series of
immigration reform field hearings held across the country. King
serves on the House Immigration Subcommittee and the Immigration
Reform Caucus.
