[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 6]
[House]
[Pages 7892-7893]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  TIGHTENING AMERICAN BORDER SECURITY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tancredo) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. TANCREDO. Madam Speaker, the Washington Times carried an 
interesting article on March 28. Headlines read: Bonner Says U.S. 
Borders Sealed Better Than Ever.
  ``America is better protected against terrorists and weapons of mass 
destruction today than it ever has been, says the head of the new 
Federal agency assigned to guard the Nation's 6,000 miles of 
international borders and 300 ports of entry.''
  The borders, he says, are sealed better than ever. Well, maybe 
something has happened down there in the last several days that I am 
not aware of, but I can tell you what is the situation on our borders, 
at least our southern border, as recently as the last couple of weeks 
because I have just returned from there and observed how sealed these 
borders are. In fact, of course, they are anything but protected. They 
are completely and entirely porous.
  This is a picture of exactly what I am talking about. This is the 
border between the United States and Mexico here. This is a cattle 
guard that has been put up at this particular point because so many 
people have come across them. They have knocked down this fence so many 
times, they have just given up putting up any sort of protection, 
because all it is is a 3-strand barbed-wire fence to begin with, but it 
has been knocked over so many times they just put up a cattle guard to 
keep cattle from going across the border. But it certainly does not 
protect or seal the border. And this is the case for literally 
thousands of miles of the border.
  This is a sign. Maybe this is what the head of the agency is 
referring to when he says things are better now than ever before. This 
sign was put up there; actually it was put up a while back. Here is a 
sign near another little spot around the border where the ruts in the 
road, they will show you how many times they have come across here from 
Mexico into the United States where we were standing taking a picture 
of this sign. The sign says, ``All persons and vehicles must enter the 
United States at a designated port of entry only.'' This is not, 
underlined, this is not a designated port of entry. And, of course, we 
are out in the middle of nowhere. There is not anything for hundreds of 
miles except where everybody has been coming across and knocking down 
fences and coming into the United States.
  Maybe this is the security device that we are talking about. Maybe 
this is what we will see when people come across, terrorists and 
others, who come across this place which is not a port of entry, and 
look at the sign and say, oh, golly, this is not a port of entry. I 
guess I should go several hundred miles to where it is a port of entry 
and try to come across there, and then they will turn back and go back 
into Mexico. Surely that is what this, we are assuming, is going to 
make happen.
  Well, of course, it is not. The borders are not only not sealed 
better than ever, they are entirely porous.
  There is a report from the Tucson sector from the U.S. Border Patrol 
that

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said that as early as November of last year they apprehended in just 
one sector 23,000 illegal aliens, but they also said that at least for 
every one they get, five get by them. So in the month of November, 
according to the Border Patrol, 100,000 people came across just the 
Tucson sector into the United States. They got 23,000 of them, turned 
them back, and of course those people very soon just came across the 
border as soon as somebody was not looking; 100,000 in the month of 
November.
  There is a gentleman here that owns a ranch, not too far from where 
this picture is taken, as a matter of fact. His name is Roger Barnett. 
He has personally, he, his wife, and his brother have personally 
interdicted 2,000 people a month on their land, called the Border 
Patrol, had them come and get them and take them away; 2,000-some 
people a year, these folks stop themselves on their ranch and get the 
Border Patrol and come and get them.
  The Tohono O'odom Indian Reservation, also in Arizona, not too far 
from where this picture is taken, has 1,500 people come across their 
land, across their border every single day; 1,500 illegal immigrants 
come across a 71-mile section of the border called the Tohono O'odom 
Indian Reservation which has a coterminus border with Mexico; 1,500 a 
day and we are supposed to believe that our borders are sealed better 
than ever. They are not sealed; they are not even remotely secure.
  Now, maybe we are devising better methods of identification for 
people to show, so when people come through a port of entry they have 
to prove who they are. That is a good idea. But let me suggest that 
people do not come across the port of entry if they are coming to do us 
great harm. They are coming across right over here.

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