[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 59 (Monday, April 26, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2607-S2608]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, as is well known by my colleagues and most 
Americans, over the last several days, the Governor of Arizona signed 
legislation, which is controversial, which is designed to affect the 
issue of illegal immigrants into the country across the Arizona border. 
That legislation was enacted by the Arizona legislature and signed by 
the Governor because of the frustration the Governor and the 
legislation and, indeed, the majority of my constituents have over the 
Federal Government's failure to carry out its responsibility to secure 
our border. Many viewed this as a civil rights issue. There is no 
intention whatsoever to violate anyone's civil rights, but this is a 
national security issue. This is a national security issue where the 
United States has an unsecured border between Arizona and Mexico which 
has led to violence, the worst I have ever seen, and numbers that 
stagger those who are unfamiliar with the issue--such as 241,000 
illegal immigrants were apprehended on the Tucson sector border of 
Arizona in the last year. Do the math. You have three to five times 
that number who actually cross, so we are talking about a million 
people crossing the border illegally.
  This is not just a human smuggling issue. This is a drug issue. Our 
borders are unsecured, and the flow of drugs across the border is 
staggering. Last year in the Tucson sector alone, there were over 1.3 
million pounds of marijuana apprehended, 1.3 million pounds on the 
Arizona border. The numbers of methamphetamine, cocaine, and other 
drugs crossing the border by the drug cartels is staggering. The Los 
Angeles Times reported last week that over 22,000 Mexican citizens have 
been killed in drug wars against the cartels. Have no doubt, this is an 
existential government between the Government of Mexico, the drug 
cartels, and the human smugglers who work together, and the security of 
the United States.
  The violence has already spilled across our borders, and unless we 
get it under control, it will get worse. Three American citizens were 
murdered in Juarez, Mexico as they were trying to find their way home. 
A rancher in southern Arizona was murdered as he was out patrolling his 
own property. The people in southern Arizona have had their rights 
violated by the unending and constant flow of drug smugglers and human 
traffickers across their property. Their homes are being broken into. 
Their rights are being violated, their rights as American citizens to 
live in a safe and secure environment, as most of the pundits who are 
criticizing this legislation enjoy.
  The fact is, our borders are broken. They are not secure. It is a 
Federal responsibility to secure our borders. It is not being done. 
Senator Kyl and I have a 10-point plan that can be enacted immediately 
in order to secure the borders and secure them quickly.
  Before I ask my colleague to comment, there is a question about 
whether we can secure our borders. Of course, we can. We have seen in 
the Yuma sector of Arizona a dramatic decrease in illegal crossings and 
drug smuggling. Again, I want to mention to my friend from Arizona, 
have no doubt that this is not just a human smuggling problem and 
people trying to cross the border illegally to find work. This is a 
human smuggling cartel aligned with the drug cartels that are sending 
drugs across our border and killing our citizens. The cartels and the 
human smugglers are a direct threat to the security of this Nation. Two 
weeks ago a highly organized syndicate that takes people who are coming 
across our border illegally to Tucson, puts them in vans, taking them 
to Phoenix and distributing them all over the country. These 
individuals come from as far away as China.
  Have no doubt of the extent of the problem, the organization, the 
cruelty, the barbarity of the challenge we face, of the drug cartels 
and the human smugglers that are just south of our border, and the 
State of Arizona has been bearing the brunt of it. The administration 
has failed to act. We need 33,000 Border Patrol agents down on the 
border. We need the National Guard, 3,000 troops. We need to take a 
number of other steps Senator Kyl and I will describe. This situation 
is the worst I have ever seen. It is time for the Federal Government to 
act. If you don't like the bill the legislature passed and the Governor 
signed in Arizona, then carry out the Federal responsibility to secure 
the border. You probably wouldn't have had this problem.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Arizona.
  Mr. KYL. May I ask my colleague, who has been down on the border 
fairly recently. He went to the Tucson sector which is a sector that 
has about half of all of the illegal immigration in the entire United 
States coming across; is that correct?
  Mr. McCAIN. I have. If it was 241,000 last year that were 
apprehended, there are estimates that as many as five to one are not 
apprehended. So that could have been over a million people who crossed 
the Arizona border illegally in 1 year. That is staggering in itself.
  Mr. KYL. The point here is, the Tucson sector is one of two sectors 
in Arizona. It is maybe 60 percent of our

[[Page S2608]]

southern border. The Yuma sector may be the other 40 percent. The 
Tucson sector ends at the New Mexico border. We are talking about a 
couple of hundred miles, give or take--not that much area when we 
consider the entire, more than 2,000-mile border all the way from the 
Gulf of Mexico to the San Diego area. About one-tenth of the entire 
border area accounts for over half of all the illegal immigration. My 
colleague was there within the last month or so. I was down in the Yuma 
sector. The reason I mention these two sectors is that it is literally 
the tale of two approaches to immigration reform. As Senator McCain 
said, there is absolutely no doubt that application of the right 
principles and resources to the border can secure the border.
  Let me give my experience in the Yuma sector and then ask my 
colleague to talk a little more about the Tucson sector. Those are the 
two sectors in Arizona. The Yuma sector has virtually eliminated 
illegal immigration. There is still substantial drug smuggling, and 
that is a lot of what they are focused on right now. How could this 
have happened? Mainly three things. First, they completed the fencing 
in that particular area. There are just a couple miles left to go, but 
they have 11 miles of very good, new double fencing in the urban area 
around Yuma and then vehicle barriers beyond that. There are some areas 
where it is even triple fenced. They have enough Border Patrol agents, 
though we have to be careful we don't take some from the Yuma sector to 
send over to Tucson where they need more, because it is a little bit 
like these wars abroad. Once you take the area, you need to have enough 
troops to hold the area or, when you leave, bad guys come back in. We 
need the Border Patrol there. If we could add some National Guard 
troops, as my colleague has recommended, it would absolutely be the 
final personnel solution. I can remember when the Guard was withdrawn 
and there was only one guardsman left in the Yuma sector, and they 
still stayed away. I am not even sure if he had his weapon with him. 
But let's put it this way: The bad guys on the other side of the 
border, whether it is the cartels or others, do not want to mess with 
the U.S. military. They won't. That is the reason my colleague, then-
Governor Napolitano, and many others believe we need more National 
Guard on the border.
  The third thing that brought illegal immigration in the Yuma sector 
almost to an end is called Operation Streamline. It is very simple. 
When you cross the border, you get thrown in jail. The first time it is 
for about 2 weeks; second time, 30 days. After that, it could be 60 
days. The sheriffs tell us that about 17 percent of the people they 
apprehend are criminals in the United States or are wanted for crimes 
here. Obviously, that is the 17 percent you want to catch. You want to 
put them in jail. The rest of them want to come here for work. They 
can't work and make money while they are in jail. That is a huge 
disincentive for them to cross in that area. So what the Border Patrol 
and the Department of Justice did was to say, if you cross in this 
area, you go to jail. They stopped crossing in that area. They 
gradually expanded those areas until it finally covered the entire Yuma 
sector. Now illegal immigrant coyotes and cartel folks know that if 
they try to bring somebody across in the Yuma sector, immediately those 
people are going to jail. Then they will be going back home, so they 
don't try it anymore. As a result the statistics are, as Senator McCain 
pointed out, in the Tucson sector you had almost a quarter of a million 
people last year apprehended. Who knows how many more were not 
apprehended. How many in the Yuma sector? This year, 4,946 so far--from 
a quarter of a million almost to 4,000. It wasn't always so in the Yuma 
sector. In 2006, 118,000 were apprehended. The next year, it went down 
to 37,000. We could see a big impact. And then 8,000, 7,000, probably 
5,000 this year. We can see the impact of the fencing. The personnel 
and Operation Streamline have made a huge difference.
  Mr. McCAIN. May I ask unanimous consent, with the indulgence of my 
friend from Hawaii, for 3 additional minutes.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. KYL. Mr. President, I have made my point here. Senator McCain is 
absolutely right. If you want to do it, you can do it. You just have to 
apply the will and the resources. What worked in the Yuma sector could 
work in the Tucson sector, and almost all of those things are included 
in the 10-point proposal Senator McCain and I have made.
  Mr. McCAIN. Could I also emphasize that the violence is worse than it 
has ever been. Mr. President, 22,000 Mexicans have been murdered on the 
Mexican border. American citizens have been murdered on our border. 
This is no longer a situation where someone from Mexico or some other 
country decides they want to cross our borders. These are highly 
organized, highly sophisticated, well-equipped, well-trained, armed 
cartels. Drug and human smuggling cartels coordinate with each other 
through these corridors. They have better communication than our 
enforcement agencies due to our lack of interoperability. They have 
sophisticated equipment. They are even sending drugs over using 
ultralights.
  This is a struggle for the existence of the Government of Mexico. 
This is a struggle on our side of the border for the fundamental 
obligation any government has; that is, to provide its citizens with 
secure borders. Right now, our citizens are not safe, and therefore the 
Federal Government should be fulfilling its responsibilities to provide 
the necessary equipment and manpower to secure our borders. As my 
colleague from Arizona just pointed out, it can be achieved. It is now 
a massive failure on the part of the Federal Government. They should 
also fund it.
  I thank my friend from Arizona, and I thank my colleague from Hawaii 
for his indulgence.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Hawaii.

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