Cornyn, Kyl Co-Chair Hearing To Further Review Immigration Law

CORNYN, KYL CO-CHAIR HEARING TO FURTHER REVIEW IMMIGRATION LAW

Focus on enforcement and security along border, Mexican cooperation in cracking down on alien smuggling rings

Tuesday, June 7, 2005

WASHINGTON-U.S. Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) co-chaired a joint hearing on Tuesday to address the potential dangers posed by the increased number of non-Mexican undocumented immigrants crossing the southwest border. The hearing was titled "The Southern Border in Crisis: Resources and Strategies to Improve National Security." It examined the need for enhanced security along the U.S.-Mexico border, and particularly Mexico's cooperation in cracking down on alien smuggling rings.

"This hearing illustrated the national security threat posed by aliens from countries other than Mexico, or OTMs, who illegally cross our southern border," Cornyn said at the hearing. "Arrests of OTMs at the southern border are reaching record levels. And some of these aliens are from special interest countries, or a country that is a state sponsor of terrorism."

Cornyn chairs the Immigration, Border Security and Citizenship subcommittee and Kyl chairs the Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security subcommittee. As senators from Texas and Arizona, they represent approximately 85 percent of the nation's southern border.

Witnesses included Chief of the Border Patrol David Aguilar, U.S. Customs and Border Protection; Acting Director of Detention and Removal Operations Wesley Lee, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; and former Assistant Secretary of Policy and Planning, Border and Transportation Security, within the Department of Homeland Security, Stewart Verdery.

Texas, which makes up 65 percent of our nation's common border with Mexico, has seen an increase recently in the number of OTM arrests. In fact, a majority of this year's OTM apprehensions have occurred in the Texas sectors. This year the border patrol has apprehended approximately 96,000 OTMs; 90 percent of these arrests have occurred at the southwest border. And, of the southwest border arrests, more than 76,000 have been made in the Texas sectors.

"The vast majority of illegal OTMs are simply given a notice to appear letter and released into our country because we lack the facilities to hold them," Cornyn said. "Whether in Texas, Arizona, California or anywhere else in our country, this state of affairs is unacceptable and needs to change."

He added: "As Congress debates various proposals to both enforce and reform our immigration laws, we must all remember: Undetected border crossings by unknown individuals from suspect nations pose a clear threat to the national security of the United States, and any comprehensive solution to our immigration problems must deal with that threat."

Cornyn and Kyl recently announced the enforcement provisions of legislation they plan to introduce that will dramatically strengthen enforcement, bolster border security, and comprehensively reform our immigration laws. The bill is tentatively titled the Comprehensive Enforcement and Immigration Reform Act of 2005. It is expected to be introduced by the end of June.

The hearings are part of an ongoing effort to undertake a thorough review of our immigration laws as Cornyn and Kyl prepare their legislation. Some of the topics the hearings have covered include: how immigration reform will serve the interests of the economy; the importance of both enforcement and reform; the need for better training for border inspectors; ensuring document security and integrity; finding and closing gaps in the visa system; interior enforcement, including detention and deportation; border security between authorized ports of entry; and the use of technology to protect the borders.

http://cornyn.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=238518