The Brownsville Herald - Lawmakers Offer Outlook on Border

News Article

By Mitchell Ferman

The U.S.-Mexico border can be an easy punching bag for those not familiar with it.

That's why border officials say it's important for those on the local, state and national levels to be in sync when discussing the area.

"It's the easiest thing to demonize," U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, R-Texas, said Monday at a joint press conference with state Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa and state Rep. Oscar Longoria, D-Peñitas. "That has a negative impact for us on the border."

And that makes the jobs tougher for the three lawmakers who gave their local, statewide and national perspectives on the border, their visions for growth and safety and how to enhance it.

This includes amping up the number of federal immigration judges and court facilities; getting everyone on the same page as to the number of apprehensions of children and families; and increasing aerial surveillance, which they all believe is a more cost-effective and safer way to patrol the border.

Cuellar once again made a strong argument for adding immigration judges to clear federal immigration courts of the 458,000 backlogged cases. Last year, Cuellar successfully secured 55 additional federal immigration judges, which are in the process of being hired and should take the bench by early next year.

Cuellar said, in addition, for fiscal year 2017, he's asking for 25 more judges and video teleconferencing equipment and further technology to more quickly process dockets for next year.

He also revealed updated apprehension numbers for immigrants, including unaccompanied minors, which show an increase in arrests.

This could put the total number of arrests on par with 2014, when the surge on the South Texas border first began and made the Rio Grande Valley the epicenter of immigration in the nation's eyes.

Through February, there have been 18,251 apprehensions, up 133 percent from this point last year.

The lawmakers agreed that Homeland Security staff -- including U.S. Border Patrol and U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers -- in the Rio Grande Valley is understaffed. But Cuellar said there are efforts to enhance security along the border in addition to staffing.

In addition, there has been an increase in aerostat surveillance -- giant blimp-like tethered balloons equipped with cameras and infrared technology that can allow agents to see images for 20 miles. Cuellar said one was just added in the Zapata area.

Cuellar likes the idea of adding more of the blimps along the entire border, but he felt there could be some negotiating to lease them for less money. They currently cost $400,000 per month to lease.

He tossed around an interesting idea of the blimps being spread across the entire border. Cuellar half-joked that it would be much cheaper than Donald Trump's proposed wall.

Ultimately, safety is what matters.

"We have all these people visit us in the border area from all across the country," Hinojosa said. "They don't come to offer solutions. They come to do a tour and give hot rhetoric criticizing the situation at the border."

This does no good.

"The bottom line is this," Cuellar said. "We have to hold those federal and state officials that demonize the border accountable."

After all, according to FBI's homicide statistics, it's safer for Cuellar in his hometown of Laredo or Hinojosa in his of Mission than it is in Washington, D.C.

"I tell everyone I was born here and raised here," Longoria said. "I came back when I graduated college. I'm raising a 4-year-old and 1-year-old. I wouldn't pick any other place in the country."

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