On the recordMay 20, 2010
I agree to the comment that we all should speak the same language. Now, being from Iowa, you would probably think those of us in Texas and Louisiana don't speak the same language you do even though it is a version of English, they tell us. I'd like to make one more comment about how difficult it is to live on the border. Everybody in this House needs to go down to the southern border and just travel the border and just observe what's taking place. The border, as a local Texas Ranger tells me, he says after dark, the border gets western. And what he means by that is it gets violent on both sides. Good people in Mexico and in the United States live in fear if they live close to the border, primarily the drug cartels. But it's also the international gangs that operate freely back and forth across the border. And the brunt of that, of course, occurs in the border counties, all the way from Brownville, Texas, to San Diego, California. So there are 14 counties in Texas that are close to the border or border the northern border of Mexico. And periodically I will call the Texas sheriffs and I ask them this question. Pick the same day every month, and I call them and say, How many people are in your jail today that are foreign nationals? Don't distinguish between legal or illegal or where they're from. But how many are foreign nationals? So the most recent call that I made--called all 14 sheriffs on the same day-- and they told me how many people, percentage-wise, were in their jail.…





