Texas Governor Testifying to Homeland Security Committee Thursday

“HUMANITARIAN” AND “NATIONAL SECURITY” CRISES

by Sharon Rondeau

(Jul. 3, 2014) — 1:14 p.m. EDT – Texas Gov. Rick Perry is to testify to the U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee in McAllen as this story goes to press on the thousands of illegal aliens who have been crossing the Mexico-Texas border over the past eight months.

The hearing was scheduled to begin at noon CDT/1:00 p.m. EDT.  An itinerary was posted by the committee here.

The topic will be the huge influx of illegal aliens who have been overwhelming U.S. Border Patrol agents over the last eight months reportedly encouraged by Obama’s indication that enforcing current federal immigration laws “doesn’t make sense.”

Obama, however, wants Congress to pass a new bill, but in the absence of one, said he will take “executive action” on “immigration.”

Illegals have been shipped to at least three military bases within the Southwest and reportedly are found to have communicable diseases.  A team of “Brownshirts” working for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is said to have threatened medical workers about speaking to the media about the conditions in the makeshift camps, while U.S. Rep. Jim Bridinstine was denied access to a camp in his home state of Oklahoma on Tuesday.

On June 20, Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin and Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe gained access to the same facility where at the time 600 children were housed.

Reports of gang members and other criminals, including human traffickers, crossing the border along with unaccompanied children have surfaced in recent weeks.  There have also been child deaths.

Since 2006, Perry has been boosting border security with a significant reduction in crime.  However, illegals have been suspected of vandalism, break-ins and other potential crimes.

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul is chairing the meeting in McAllen.

KSAT is reportedly covering the session but has not issued a report as of 1:45 CDT.  KXAN issued a report here, characterizing the problem as a “humanitarian crisis,” as did Perry in his prepared remarks.  Perry also told the committee that “there is more than one crisis happening along the U.S. border” and described his tour of one of the holding facilities.

Perry said, in part:

Last week, I witnessed the difficult conditions these children are being housed in while they await action by Washington, whether it’s the right decision to immediately deport them, or the shortsighted and tragic decision to essentially turn them loose in the United States.

Some might think allowing them to stay is a more humane option, I assure you, it is not.

Nobody is doing any of these children the slightest favor by delaying a rapid return to their countries of origin, which in many cases is not Mexico.

Allowing them to remain here will only encourage the next group of individuals to undertake the same life-threatening journey.

Those who have come must be sent back to demonstrate, in no uncertain terms, that risking their lives to cross Mexico and enter our country simply isn’t worth it.

Even those who have survived the treacherous journey are still at risk.

We’ve already had one confirmed case of H1N1 in Texas, and have been informed by our federal partners of two additional cases of Type A influenza that are likely to be H1N1, in addition to reports of other illnesses at other detention facilities.

The second crisis is a crisis of national security.

The rapid influx of illegal immigrants has strained border resources that were already insufficient to the task at hand. Officials who should be guarding the border are dealing with the overflow instead of fulfilling their primary tasks.

Some believe that Obama has allowed the massive surge of aliens in to the country to change immigration “law” under the guise of reuniting families to benefit Democrats running for office in November.

Obama was in Texas on Thursday but did not attend the hearing or meet with Perry.

On Wednesday, a reported 33 members of Congress had signed a letter demanding that Obama deport illegals crossing the border and “end the failed policies that encourage young individuals to put themselves in peril.”