John Hostettler: “I join the gentleman from Wisconsin (Chairman Sensenbrenner) in opposing this amendment, which would take a vital tool…”

“I join the gentleman from Wisconsin (Chairman Sensenbrenner) in opposing this amendment, which would take a vital tool out of the hands of our Border Patrol in keeping foreign terrorists out of the United States. As it is distressingly easy for aliens to illegally cross our borders, it would also be relatively easy for terrorists to enter. The Border Patrol recently released data that in just the period from last October through this June, over 44,000 non-Mexican aliens were caught trying to cross the northern or southern borders, including eight from Afghanistan, six from Algeria, 13 from Egypt, 20 from Indonesia, 10 from Iran, 55 from Israel, 122 from Pakistan, six from Saudi Arabia, six from Syria, 22 from Turkey, and two from Yemen. A South African woman alleged to be a terrorist on the terrorist watch list recently indicated that she had crossed the border illegally from Mexico. What happens to these aliens when they are intercepted? They go through a 'revolving door' when we release them because of a lack of detention space.”