House committee makes progress on border laws

House committee makes progress on border laws
by Bob Campbell
Midland Reporter-Telegram

Published: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 3:21 AM CDT
House committee makes progress on border laws

Rep. Swinford heads committee considering city, county and state officers to deport illegal immigrants

By Bob Campbell

Staff Writer

A Texas House committee instructed by Speaker Tom Craddick of Midland has held two hearings on training city, county and state law enforcement officers to assist federal immigration agents and is considering recommending the plan to the 81st Legislature in January.

State Affairs Committee Chairman David Swinford, R-Dumas, said illegal border crossings have been cut by 60-70 percent since the first of this year and drug gangs pushed into an internecine paroxysm of self destruction.

His committee convened in March in Edinburg on the Texas-Mexico border and again last month in Austin, where members separated feasible ideas from ones that would be quashed in appellate courts.

"It would let the cities, counties and state criminal justice system take training and be able to do the same things the Border Patrol does," said Swinford. "We looked at laws that have passed scrutiny in Oklahoma and if they continue passing, we'll have them in our report in September or October."

He said the nine-member committee is viewing a variety of issues alongside U.S. Customs & Border Protection's Section 287-G, which allows delegation of authority to deport undocumented workers and pursue human and narcotics trafficking, violent crimes and money laundering with five weeks of U.S. Border Patrol training.

In a similar Craddick initiative, House Corrections Committee Chairman Jerry Madden, R-Plano, is reviewing requiring city and county jails to notify federal authorities before releasing "illegals."

Appropriations Committee Chairman Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, and Swinford visited one of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's "war rooms" near Edinburg and watched the surveillance of a Mexican drug gang about to move a load of narcotics.

"There was all kinds of activity, speeding and running stop signs," Swinford said. "It built and built and finally there was a drug deal moving. They're fighting among themselves because we're creating havoc and their cost of doing business is going up."

He said the House's $110 million border security appropriation last year in Austin has been a major factor.

With increases in the Border Patrol's 16,000 agent force, the Texas Department of Public Safety is rotating troopers to the border 200 at a time and the Department of Parks & Wildlife is assigning game wardens. "The cooperation right now is the best we've ever seen," Swinford said.

"Warren and I learned that we're using Border Patrol helicopters and unmanned aircraft. The Border Patrol Academy in Artesia, N.M., has just put 300 new agents into service and is about to graduate 300 more.

"We ought to give our Border Patrol agents the absolute right to defend themselves because they're down there in a dangerous situation. Most of the drug deals are out in the country and it's a full bore deal."

Swinford said other report topics will be border fencing and hiring undocumented workers.

"We have a 1,241-mile border with Mexico with 96 percent of it held by private owners," he said. "Fences are problematic for folks whose only water is in the Rio Grande because they may have 10,000 head of cattle. If illegals can't cross, neither can cattle. We take away people's property rights when we do that.

"We don't have a verifiable good source of identification. If they bring in two forged documents just like the ones you carry around, I don't think we ought to be shooting the businessmen because they don't have any way to tell."

http://www.mywesttexas.com/articles/2008/06/18/news/top_stories/border_committee.txt