Kyl: Will Not Buy Into Notion Border Control Is Beyond Our Capability

WASHINGTON, D.C. U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), chairman of the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology, and Homeland Security of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today held a hearing to raise public awareness on the increasing levels of violence along the southern border, the Mexican military incursions into the United States, and the rise in the number of criminals coming across our border. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), chairman of the Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Citizenship, joined Sen. Kyl to co-chair the hearing. Our failure to control the border with Mexico has permitted a historically unprecedented number of foreign nationals from over 120 countries to enter the United States illegally, said Kyl during his opening statement. While recognizing that the majority of the illegal migrants to our country only come here to seek better wages and a better standard of living, we cannot ignore the fact that at least ten percent of the aliens apprehended along the border are criminals. Violence along our borders was once a rare occurrence, Kyl said. Because the goal of these criminals is to smuggle valuable drugs and humans across the border, the violence today has led to gunfire exchanges with our law enforcement agents. These criminals also have no prejudice in their violence, as they also assault the very people theyre smuggling illegally into our country. According to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol figures, there have been over 42,000 apprehensions of illegal aliens with criminal records in the last five months. Among them were 6,770 felons; 148 persons wanted in connection with a homicide; 42 associated with a kidnapping; 164 associated with a sexual assault; 298 associated with a robbery, 1,957 wanted for assault, and 4,161 connected with drug crimes. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security recently advised Congress that 139,000 of the 1.1 million people apprehended on the border in 2005 were criminal aliens seeking to illegally reenter the United States. I have frequently heard the argument that the United States cannot stop the flow of illegal migrants and contraband across the borderthats wrong, Kyl said. Until we have an adequate force of Border Patrol agents to protect our borders, and have equipped them with the technology and infrastructure that they need to accomplish the mission, I will not buy into the notion that control of the borders is beyond our capability. I believe that the United States, like other nations, has both the obligation and the right to control its borders indeed, it is difficult to imagine a more fundamental, primary role of government.