[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 58 (Thursday, April 22, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H2824]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   AND THE BORDER VIOLENCE CONTINUES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, there are rules and procedures for 
coming into the United States legally. You have to sign the guest book 
at the point of entry so we know who you are. We have a right to know 
why someone wants to visit our country--and we have the right to tell 
them when it's time for them to go home.
  But right now, America's hardworking taxpayers foot the bill for 
anyone who sneaks across our borders unabated. American taxpayers are 
expected to pay for the world's problems. We have enough problems of 
our own right here.
  Let me mention some of our border issues and some of those issues 
that we have on the Texas-Mexico border.
  Criminal aliens are a part of that problem. There is a crime wave 
taking place in our border regions. There are 14 Texas counties that 
border Mexico. And recently, I called the 14 county sheriffs and asked 
them this question, ``How many people do you have in your county jail 
that are foreign nationals charged with crimes other than immigration 
violations like misdemeanors and felony offenses?'' And they told me 
that 37 percent of the people in the border county jails in Texas are 
foreign nationals charged with those crimes.
  These are not rich counties. These are poor counties. And yet they're 
expected to take the brunt of the crime problem on the border. They 
don't have the money to prosecute or even house these individuals. You 
see, Mexico's problems have become our problems.
  Further, the violence in Mexico has escalated. Just yesterday, a 
Holiday Inn in Monterrey, Mexico, was attacked by narcoterrorists. The 
assault was done by 50 gunmen who seized cars to block streets to slow 
down police response. At least three people were kidnapped in the 
attack by the drug cartels.
  Violence at our southern border with Mexico has escalated as well, 
and it not only affects Mexican nationals on the northern part of 
Mexico, but Americans on the southern border as well. Murders, 
kidnappings, Old West shootouts, Mexican military helicopter intrusions 
into the United States, and reports of criminal cartels cloning border 
patrol vehicles to smuggle drugs have all occurred.
  An Arizona rancher was murdered at the border recently on his ranch. 
A California border agent was assassinated just a few months ago. In El 
Paso, Texas, our border patrol agents are reportedly being targeted by 
the Azteca hit men. These outlaws work and protect drug shipments for 
the Juarez drug cartel.
  Arizona has just passed a new law giving local law enforcement the 
ability to check immigration status and detain those in the United 
States illegally. The bill also puts an end to sanctuary cities in 
Arizona. It requires law enforcement agents to make reasonable efforts 
to determine a person's legal status if there is a reasonable 
expectation they're in the United States illegally. Arizona and other 
States are desperate so they are trying to do the job that Washington 
will not do.
  This bill is waiting for the Governor's signature in Arizona, and 
most Arizona citizens support this law. Border States have been asking 
for help for securing the border against the escalating violence for 
years. States have to protect their citizens because the Federal 
Government refuses to act to adequately secure the border. It is the 
primary purpose of the Federal Government to keep American citizens 
safe. When the Federal Government refuses to act, the border States are 
left to deal with the problem on their own.
  Governor Rick Perry in Texas has been asking for National Guard 
troops for over a year, but the Department of Homeland Security has 
ignored these requests.
  There seems to be blissful silence in D.C. about the border war. Why 
do we wait for more tragedy before more boots are put on the ground? 
Our law enforcement agents need help. Doesn't Washington know the 
border has become a war zone?
  National Guard troops should be deployed to the border immediately to 
protect us from the narcoterrorists. Border patrol and local sheriffs 
in Texas and other States are outmanned, outgunned, and outfinanced.
  The United States guards the borders of other nations, but yet we 
refuse to guard our own border. Why do we do that? Mr. Speaker, we fail 
to act at our own peril.
  And that's just the way it is.

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