Do We Have A Crisis on the Southern Border or Not?

Floor Speech

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Mr. SHIMKUS. Madam Speaker, first of all, we all are thinking about those loyal, hardworking Federal employees who are caught in the middle of the challenges that we face here in Washington. As with other battles, these employees will be paid for their time away from the workplace while they are on furlough.

So what is this all about? Do we have a crisis on the southern border or not? I would caution my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to use real numbers.

Are 400,000 illegal immigrants last year across the southern border too few or too many?

Are the 500 homicides by illegal immigrants in Texas over the past decade too few or too many?

Maybe the new Homeland Security Committee could hold a hearing and vet out all of these numbers. There is a problem with that: The committee is not organized yet, so they cannot meet. I would hope that they would, so we could put the facts on the table.

I look at the clips of large groups of illegals trying to rush the border. What has kept them from illegally entering? Well, the fence, the wall, the barrier. A wall system works. Sections of the border where fencing and walls have been built have seen a decrease in illegal immigration.

San Diego first built its wall in 1992. Illegal traffic dropped 92 percent over the past 23 years.

El Paso built their fence in 1993. Illegal traffic dropped 72 percent in 1 year and 95 percent over 22 years.

Tucson's wall was built in 2000. Illegal traffic dropped 90 percent over 15 years.

The wall in Yuma was built in 2005. Illegal traffic dropped 95 percent over 9 years.

Since walls work, they have historically held bipartisan support. In the fiscal year 2007, the DHS appropriations bill provided more than $1 billion for fencing along the southwest border. It passed 412-6. Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Hoyer, Majority Whip Clyburn, and Homeland Security Chairman Thompson were among the ``yes'' votes.

Former President Barack Obama, in a Senate floor speech from the Secure Fence Act in 2006, said: ``It will authorize some badly needed funding for better fences and better security along our borders, and that should help stem some of the tide of illegal immigration in this country.''

The Secretary of Homeland Security under Obama, Janet Napolitano, reiterated: ``You've got to have a system. You've got to have a system down there that includes boots on the ground, that has to include technology and fencing and infrastructure as part of the overall system.''

It is time that we work together to compromise to reopen the government and secure our southern border. We can do this. I believe in this form of government, and I believe in this institution. Let's get to work.

America is an extraordinarily compassionate nation. We welcome immigrants seeking the opportunity to build a better life here, as well as refugees fleeing war, oppression, and poverty around the world. But even as we do this it is only appropriate that it is done legally.

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