Illegal Immigration

     BORDER SECURITY -- (House of Representatives - July 28, 2006 )

   (Ms. FOXX asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute.)

   Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, America cannot be a secure Nation without first having secure borders. Inadequate border security not only opens up America to the abuses of illegal immigration, it also leaves our Nation vulnerable to criminal and even terrorist activity.

   House Republicans have taken a strong stance on this issue. Democrats, on the other hand, support the Reid-Kennedy bill, a soft piece of legislation that would do little to discourage the lawlessness that we have encroaching into our Nation. It would require illegal immigrants to pay taxes for only 3 of the 5 years they have been in our country, and would guarantee Social Security benefits to illegals for the time they have been in the country unlawfully.

   The Reid-Kennedy bill is just as unjust as it is dangerous. If a current American citizen tried to pay taxes 3 out of every 5 years, he would be put in jail. Why do we extend this privilege to people who aren't even citizens? It is simply ludicrous.

   During August, Republicans will hold 21 hearings across the country on immigration. We hope these hearings will help us get a strong border security bill on the President's desk.

IMMIGRATION POLICY -- (House of Representatives - July 11, 2006 )

   Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas . Mr. Speaker, let me ask the American people how much they love America, I know Americans love America giving all that they can give, an America that has opened her heart and mind to immigrants from all over the world and built a great nation, an America where everyone is proud because we have welcomed those from around the world who have fled oppression and persecution.

   Why, then, do my friends on the other side of the aisle want to have the scapegoat-and-run policy for immigration, and that is refusing to stand and address the question that we all have come from somewhere and contributed to this Nation. And then, of course, we want to secure our homeland because we love America .

   Why don't we have meetings, or a conference committee meeting in order to address the House and Senate bill so that Americans know that we care about securing their homeland; but yes, we recognize that the Irish and the Polish and those who come from Hispanic origins or Africa or the Caribbean or European heritage have all made this country great.

   A pathway to citizenship, border security, not scapegoat and run, that is what America is all about. They want leadership and courage; they don't want anyone who stands for doing nothing.

BORDER VULNERABILITIES AND INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM -- (House of Representatives - July 11, 2006 )

   Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, the Subcommittee on International Terrorism that I chair held two field hearings last week, one in San Diego and one in Laredo , Texas , on border vulnerabilities and international terrorism.

   The unfortunate fact is that we live in a time when terrorists want to hit us as hard as they can. And it is elementary that to defend ourselves against these determined and resourceful enemies, our border must be secure or, as the Border Patrol says, ``We must have operational control of the border.'' We don't have that right now, and we don't have that despite a tenfold increase in what Republicans have done to fund homeland security.

   But we need border fencing. And in Laredo , Texas , sheriffs told us of drug cartels and smuggling rings increasingly well equipped and more brazen than ever in attacking law enforcement officials. The Border Patrol warns of potential terrorists employing these networks to enter our country. Last year, it apprehended illegal border crossers from many countries designated state sponsors of terrorism or countries where terrorist organizations are active.

   The sheriffs we heard from strongly seconded the Border Patrol's concerns about terrorists crossing our porous borders.

   Colleagues, immigration reform must be national security reform.

     TOUGH BORDER SECURITY NOW -- (House of Representatives - May 03, 2006 )

   (Mrs. MILLER of Michigan asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)

   Mrs. MILLER of Michigan . Mr. Speaker, the situation at our porous borders is absolutely in a state of emergency. We are all hearing this message from our constituents in a variety of ways. This morning, I wanted to share a very clear message that I received from one of my constituents.

   A constituent of mine actually sent me this brick in the mail. On this brick it says, ``Since the U.S. Government seems to be struggling with the illegal immigration problem, I thought I would send you the means to begin solving the problem. This brick is sent to support stronger border security.''

   Mr. Speaker, the American people are demanding action. Last December, this House passed a very good border security bill that would in fact put this brick to very good use in building a security fence on our southern border.

   The debate in the other body is now turning toward amnesty for those who have come here illegally, and that is the wrong direction for America . We cannot offer amnesty or expanded opportunities for guest workers until we deal with the problem at hand.

   I urge the U.S. Senate to listen to the people, to look at the bill that was passed by this House in December and, as this brick says, support stronger border security.

IMMIGRATION REFORM -- (Senate - March 30, 2006 )

   Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, I wish to talk about immigration reform and border security. In particular, since this debate will be continuing for this week and the next, I want to emphasize the importance of border security, and, obviously, enforcement begins at the border.

   But before I talk about border security and enhanced enforcement, I want to address the issue of the 12 million immigrants who are already here who have come to this country in violation of our immigration laws.

   We know why people come to America . It is the same reason they have always come: because too often they have no hope and no opportunity where they live. So we understand at a very human level why it is that people want to come to the United States. Yet I think we all acknowledge America cannot open its borders to anyone and everyone who wants to come here or we would literally be drowned in a wave of humanity.

   We have to regain control of our broken immigration system, and that means to deal with enforcement at our borders, to deal with enforcement in the interior of our country, and to deal with verification of the eligibility of prospective employees to actually work legally in the United States. We cannot repeat the mistake this Nation made with the 1986 amnesty bill.

   I remind my colleagues that in 1986, that legislation required illegal aliens to pay a fee, to learn English, to improve themselves by working in this country for a set time.

   I also remind my colleagues that everyone agrees on two points when it comes to the 1986 experience with the amnesty bill.

   No. 1, they agree it was amnesty. And No. 2, they agree it was a complete and total failure.

   I will continue to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to find a solution to this great crisis that confronts our country, but I won't accept a repetition of the mistake of 1986 when this country granted amnesty in the hopes of that being the end of it and in the hopes that there would be a reciprocal obligation on the part of the Federal Government to actually sanction employers who violate our immigration laws. I am afraid the numbers speak for themselves, with 3 million illegal immigrants who benefitted from the amnesty and now roughly 12 million who are here awaiting the next amnesty. Thus we can see what a magnet amnesty becomes and why it is so counterproductive.

   I am proud to represent a border State, the great State of Texas , and I know from personal experience what problems the border States face. I know the strains that illegal immigration and our broken borders have placed on local taxpayers when it comes to education, when it comes to health care, and I know the anger and frustration that many people feel at the Federal Government's abject failure when it comes to enforcing our immigration laws.

   I also know the nature of immigration across our borders is changing. There is more and more violence on the northern border of Mexico in cities such as Nuevo Laredo. I have listened to the concerns of my fellow Texans, including ranchers and those who are well accustomed to the movement of people across the border into the United States who want to work here and who then go back home with the savings and skills they have established. I have listened to the ranchers and the Good Samaritans who live and work along the border who were happy to lend a helping hand to the occasional traveling immigrant worker, to those seeking a better life. But I have to tell you, these people are now scared. They are terrified because drug smugglers and human traffickers are wreaking havoc along our Nation's borders.

   Let's not delude ourselves. This debate isn't just about drugs, and it isn't just about violence, as horrible as those are. This debate is also--and I would say first and foremost--about our Nation's security. In a post-9/11 world, border security is national security. I say that again: In a post-9/11 world, border security is national security.

   Make no mistake about it. Today we do confront a crisis that threatens our security. We all know that our immigration system is broken and has been for many years. And it is not getting any better on its own. So I applaud the majority leader and those who have worked so hard on both sides of the aisle to try to bring this debate to the Senate floor. This is the greatest deliberative body on the face of the planet, and I would hope that we could have a debate about this urgent need to fix our broken immigration system and to restore security to our border and do it in a way that is dignified and civil and worthy of this great institution and of this great democracy.

   Senator JON KYL of Arizona and I have teamed up to work on this issue from top to bottom. We have worked closely together over several years to address this challenge in a comprehensive way. We have held numerous hearings, and we have heard testimony from a diverse array of experts across the political spectrum. We have also inspected our Nation's failed immigration system and its relationship with the terrible events of September 11. And we have examined why it is important for America 's neighbors to raise living standards for their own citizens to help relieve some of the pressure on our border.

   Senator Kyl and I have sought to lay a foundation for a comprehensive solution to fix our broken borders, a comprehensive solution that would avert another crisis 5, 10, or 20 years down the road.

   When we sat down to draft legislation, we were alarmed that many of the bills already introduced at that time simply called for more studies and more reports. One so-called comprehensive bill failed to contain a single provision on interior enforcement. This is not a time for more studies or more reports. This is a time for action. We need to act, and we need to act prudently and in America 's best interests.

   So our goal was to craft an immigration bill that would be comprehensive. We understood that any truly comprehensive bill must address both border security and enforcing the law in our Nation's interior. Over a dozen of the strong and sensible enforcement provisions we crafted made their way into the bill that is now before the Senate in the form of the Judiciary Committee bill. I want to talk about these enforcement measures and why they are a necessary precondition to everything else that we do when it comes to reforming our broken immigration system.

   I repeat: National security and border security begin at the border. Congress can no longer ignore the realities on the ground. We can no longer afford to under-fund and under-man our borders. What we see in my State of Texas is that the mandates that the Federal Government issues when it comes to health care, when it comes to education, when it comes to law enforcement are foisted off on State, and most often, local taxpayers. It is considered a local problem when self-evidently, it should be a national mandate. When it comes to any of those issues, we have a national responsibility, and the Congress and the Federal Government must step up.

   Let's look at the reason many Texans and others who live and work along the border are scared, people who are very much accustomed to immigrants moving back and forth across the border. It is because they know the face of illegal immigration across our border has changed. We have a chart, chart No. 1, that illustrates the changing nature of illegal immigration and the rise in the number of people coming from countries other than Mexico . You can see on this chart that the aliens who have been detained along the border are from special interest countries--countries with ties to international terror such as Syria , Iraq , Iran . Just 2 weeks ago, I talked to the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and he told me there were 39,000 Chinese who had been detained coming across our southern border and, unfortunately, once they were detained, China refused to accept any of them back.

   So we have to use every diplomatic tool in our toolbox to make sure we not only detain people who come across our border illegally, but that we then, in an expeditious way, return them back to their country of origin.

   Second, in the bill that Senator Kyl and I proposed, we proposed a doubling in the number of Border Patrol agents.

   And while we have heard a lot of talk about additional Federal agents at the border, the Federal Government really hasn't stepped up yet. There is a lot of good and, I think, well-intentioned talk. But on 9/11, we saw that 9,788 Border Patrol agents were funded by the U.S. Government. Here we are today, and we have seen a small increase to a little over 11,000. But lest some people think that is a lot of Federal agents on the border, let me remind them we have a 2,000-mile border between the United States and Mexico--a 2,000-mile border--and now a little over 11,000 Federal agents, when the city of New York has somewhere on the order of 39,000 policemen. So if you compare a 2,000-mile border and 11,000 Border Patrol agents with the fact that the city of New York has 39,000 police officers, you can see why I suggest to my colleagues that we are both underfunded and undermanned when it comes to the sheer volume of people coming across the border.

   Last year, about 1.2 million--that's 1.2 million--people were apprehended coming across the border. So how can we in good conscience say that we are doing everything within our power to enforce our borders and enforce our laws when we simply deny the Federal agents, who are doing a very good job, the number of people they need in order to be successful?

   Then there is the issue of detention beds. Once you detain someone coming illegally across the border, they are entitled, ordinarily, to a deportation hearing, if they come from a country other than Mexico . People who come from Mexico are returned expeditiously--usually the same day. Of course, many of them try to come back and, after enough tries, they usually make it past the border. But we have had a flawed policy of catch and release. In other words, when we have apprehended people at the border who come in illegally from countries other than Mexico , we said: Please show up in 30 days for your deportation hearing. Are we surprised that the vast majority of people don't show up but just merely melt into our landscape and become part of that 12 million people who come to our country in violation of our immigration laws? Well, it is because we only have 20,000 detention beds--20,000--with 1.2 million people coming across our borders just last year. That is the fundamental, root problem with the catch-and-release policy that the Department of Homeland Security has had for far too long.

   Senator Kyl and I would not only raise the number of detention beds to 50,000, but we would end the catch-and-release policy by improving and increasing and mandating the use of expedited removal across our borders.

   This chart reflects that Border Patrol apprehensions of people from countries other than Mexico were 165,000 last year. Yet 114,000 of them were released under the catch-and-release program. As I say, most, if not all, of them melted into the landscape and became part of this shadow culture living in America today of people who have come to this country in violation of our immigration laws. We may assume we know why they have come here. We may assume that they are people in search of a better life and, indeed, many of them are. But the fact is, we can't assume in a post-9/11 world; we have to know who is coming into our country and why they are here because we know there are those who have evil intent toward America . We know there are common criminals. We know there are drug dealers and drug smugglers. We know there are arms dealers. We know there are international criminal syndicates who will do anything for a buck, whether it is smuggling drugs, guns, weapons of mass destruction, or smuggling terrorists across our borders.

   In addition to the 10,000 more Border Patrol agents, I believe the solution to securing our borders is in the technology we have, our technological advantage. But we are not using technology along the border the way we should. We know the Department of Defense, our military, is the finest, most professional military the world has ever known, and in large part it is because of the technology they are able to use. We need to use ground sensors. We need to use unmanned aerial vehicles. We need to use technology to provide a secure border.

   The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time has expired.

   Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent for 30 seconds to conclude my remarks.

   The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

   Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, as I pointed out, border security is national security. I see the chairman of the Subcommittee for Homeland Security of the Appropriations Committee on the floor, and he has been a great champion of getting more money allocated for this important effort. But we are a far cry from where we need to be. We can do this if we have the national will and commitment. But our national security depends on border security, and we have to make a credible effort--indeed, more than an effort--we need to be successful in providing security to our borders in order to keep the American people safe.

ACTION ON IMMIGRATION -- (House of Representatives - March 29, 2006 )

   (Mrs. CAPITO asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)

   Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. Speaker, today our colleagues in the Senate begin hearings on immigration legislation. I rise to urge our colleagues in the other Chamber to follow the House's lead by passing legislation that focuses first and foremost on securing our broken border enforcement system.

   Porous borders and the illegal immigration caused by them are a threat not only to our national security but to our national economic security. The Federal Government, more specifically Congress, has a duty to do everything we can to secure our borders.

   Enforcement first legislation passed by the House last year was the right approach. Once we have effectively secured our border, then and only then should we focus on the other consequences of illegal immigration.

   Mr. Speaker, we are a Nation of immigrants. Our Nation's greatness is built on the hopes and dreams of those who have come here from another country. I understand that.

   But above all, we are a Nation built on the rule of law. As a Nation and as a Congress, our duty is to enforce these laws and secure our borders.


GOOD FENCES MAKE GOOD NEIGHBORS -- (House of Representatives - March 28, 2006 )

   (Mr. KELLER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute.)

   Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss the benefits of having a physical or virtual fence along the 2,000-mile Mexican-U.S. border to crack down on illegal immigration.

   I recently returned from a week-long trip to the Mexican-California border, and I am convinced of one thing. Good fences make good neighbors. First, we need to complete construction of the double fence for 700 miles along the border near highly populated urban areas.

   For example, San Diego saw a steep reduction in crossings from 500,000, now down to 130,000, when the double fence was completed there. Second, for the remaining 1,300 miles along the border, where mountains and rugged terrain make completion of a double fence impossible, we need to have a virtual fence which consists of infrared cameras that allow our Border Patrol agents to see the entire border.

   Mr. Speaker, the House recently passed a tough border security bill that authorized the appropriate border security fence, but the Senate yesterday cleared a bill out of the Judiciary Committee that did absolutely nothing to build this border security fence. It is now time for the full Senate to get serious about border security.
THE IMPACT OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION ON RANCHERS -- (House of Representatives - March 01, 2006 )

   Mr. KELLER. Madam Speaker, today I rise to discuss the impact that illegal immigration has on the ranchers along the Mexican border. I recently spent a week along the Mexican-California border to see firsthand how bad the problem was and what Congress could do to fix it.

   I sat down in the living rooms of four different families who own ranches along the border. One couple, Ed and Donna Tisdale, documented on home video 13,000 illegal aliens crossing their property in one year alone.

   The Tisdales had their barbed wire fences cut by illegals running off the family's cattle. When their dogs barked to scare off intruders, the dogs were poisoned.

   Another rancher told me about numerous break-ins at his home while his family slept, as illegal aliens tried to find food and clothing. One morning his daughters had gone out to feed their pet bunny rabbits, only to find them skinned and taken for food by illegal aliens trying to escape to a nearby highway.

   Madam Speaker, the House has recently passed a tough border security bill. I urge the Senate to act now to address this problem.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION IS A MATTER OF NATIONAL SECURITY -- (House of Representatives - February 16, 2006 )
   (Mr. KELLER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute.)

   Mr. KELLER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to talk about the national security implications of illegal immigration. Last year, our Border Patrol agents arrested 155,000 illegal aliens from countries other than Mexico who attempted to cross into the United States by the Mexican border. They included illegal immigrants from Iran , Iraq and Afghanistan .

   This poses a very serious national security problem, according to CIA director Porter Goss. On a recent trip to the Mexican-California border, I spoke with Border Patrol agents who had apprehended suspects on the terrorist watch list. On the day I was there, two illegals from Pakistan were captured. When we go to the airport, our names are checked against a terrorist watch list, we have to produce photo ID, we remove our shoes, we walk through a metal detector, and we send our luggage through an X-ray machine to check for bombs.

   Who is doing checks on the 8,000 people who arrive here illegally every day? The House has recently passed a tough border security bill. I urge the Senate to act now in the name of national security.