Posted on 09/03/2004 3:53:17 PM PDT by SwinneySwitch
Many non-Mexican illegal immigrants disappear after quick release, lawmakers say.
BROWNSVILLE - New intelligence gathered along Texas' border indicates al-Qaida and other possible terrorist groups may be trying to enter the United States through Mexico, according to several Democratic lawmakers.
U.S. Rep. Solomon Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi, hosted U.S. Rep. Jim Turner, D-Crockett, and U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston, both members of the House Homeland Security Committee, in a tour of several border facilities in the Brownsville area Thursday. The three disclosed the intelligence in a news conference after the gathering.
Turner said intelligence reports indicated that "a group of Middle Eastern men" was moving through Latin America toward the Texas border. No further details of the threat were available, he said.
Ortiz also said El Salvador officials had confirmed with U.S. authorities last month that "Mara Salvatrucha," a violent gang with roots in the Salvadoran civil war and branches in several U.S. states including Texas, had met with al-Qaida. Ortiz said he could not elaborate on the threat Thursday.
The reason Ortiz said he had invited Turner and Lee to the area was so they could observe the border facilities firsthand and develop ideas for strengthening the porous border region against terrorism without jeopardizing the flow of trade. Ortiz called attention to procedures along the 2,000-mile border with Mexico, particularly how "other than Mexican," or "OTM," immigrants often are released after apprehension because of limited bed space in detention facilities.
About 50,000 non-Mexican illegal immigrants are caught entering the United States annually, Turner said. Of those, more than 20,000 are released and don't return for scheduled immigration hearings. Lee said only 19,000 beds exist for the estimated 22,000 illegal immigrants caught every day trying to enter the country.
Six Cuban immigrants who landed near Port Aransas last week fit that mold. They turned themselves in after two months at sea in a 30-foot boat knocked off course by Hurricane Charley and were scheduled to be moved to a holding facility in Port Isabel, but because the facility was full, were released after hearings were scheduled for them. One later was sent to Port Isabel and released.
"Our porous southern border represents one of the greatest security threats to this country," Lee said. "But on the other hand, we don't want to impede the free flow of trade and commerce."
Turner recommended the government make "the largest investment in infrastructure, personnel and technology we've seen in the history of this country." Lee's recommendations were more specific: emergency funding from Congress, intelligence sharing, modifying procedures for non-Mexican detainees and reducing the shortage of beds.
The Rio Grande Valley has been subject to increased national scrutiny in recent months because of the announcement of new Homeland Security illegal immigrant regulations and the apprehension and detention of a South African woman at McAllen's international airport in July.
The woman, Farida Goolam Mahomed Ahmed, 48, was headed to New York and was apprehended with no visa or U.S. entry stamp, according to The New York Times, and three pages of her passport were torn out.
Several weeks after the woman was arrested, the Homeland Security department announced new regulations that would allow Border Patrol agents to deport non-Mexican illegal immigrants more quickly, without hearings before immigration judges.
Turner called the plan a "Band-Aid" solution, and cited information gathered from his visit Thursday that suggested Border Patrol agents had received few instructions about how to implement the new plans.
"They've received no training and no funding," he said. "Frankly, it sounds like a good idea, but it will have to be just one part of an overall solution."
Ortiz said he hoped insight gained from the visit would allow the three to return to Washington and spread the word.
"All it takes is for one crazy guy to come here and disrupt the economy and the flow of trade, and then we'll have very serious problems."
Contact Brad Olson at 886-3764 or olsonb@caller.com
Time to start paying a bounty of $1000/head for illegal aliens trying to cross the border. That would put the kibosh on that noise tout suite.
Yeah that's right, bring ole Jackson-Lee to Corpus. Houston is over run by illegal aliens, but you better not arrest them or for that matter even look at them funny. you know us racist American citizens are so heartless.
Is the same twit who wanted to see the flag on Mars?
Well you would become a Millionaire in Houston.
Give the drug lords in Mexico one "get out of jail" free card for each ten suspected terrorists turned over. I'm just joking, of course. But someone should explain to the drug smugglers that one terrorist linked to the U.S.- Mexico border is going to seriously interfere with their future profits when the border is sealed up a lot tighter than it is now.
Excellent!!!
Give cash for every terrorist turned in. I think your normal illegal alien would jump at the chance to turn them in.
Don't understand. What's to probe? The border is wide open.
bttt
I say we seal that border and Canada's too.
What a group. Good ol' Solomon Whoretease, boy genius, and Ms Jackson Lee, girl astronaut. I feel safer now.
Wrong. On the Canadian border there is one border agent for every five miles. On the Mexican border there are seven agents per mile. Plus the Mexican border has fences, rangers, military forces, drones, towers, sensors, fixed wing and helicopter surveillance; and mounted cameras.
Additionally we have special arrangements with the Mexican and Latin American governments aimed at stopping terrorists. Our objective is to catch them before they get within a hundred miles of our border.
There has not been one single case of a person confirmed to be a terrorist sneaking across the Southern border.
Where did you get this "open border" BS?
Good thing they mentioned that it was Democrats saying this, otherwise I suspect Bush would get blamed for using 'scare tactics'.
Not only that, but it would create a huge job market IN Mexico. After they catch them, they can turn them over to the US for further questioning and collect their money.
I think it's a bit too late.........
(This map is outdated. More Mosque's have sprung up across the U.S. since this map was made).
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All talk of border security is a... (1) JOKE (2) FARCE (3) CHARADE (4) COMBINATION OF 1,2,&3.....nobody in our govt. cares.
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