LAREDO, Texas (Jan. 24, 2019) – Laredo Mayor and Texas Border Coalition (TBC) Chairman Pete Saenz today issued the following statement applauding bipartisan efforts to end the partial federal government shutdown and fund many TBC-backed priorities to secure the U.S. Mexico border:
“The Texas Border Coalition applauds leaders in Congress and the Trump Administration for putting forward strong bipartisan ideas that would get government employees back to work and fund many of the priorities outlined in our Texas Border Compact. These important efforts provide a critical blueprint to finally secure the border.
“TBC members are particularly pleased that federal officials agree that border security is needed both at the ports of entry where 90 percent of the hard drugs are smuggled into the U.S., and between the ports where most illegal entries occur.
“We welcome construction of a ‘Smart Wall’ built with high-tech resources like sensors, radar, LIDAR, fiber optics, drones and cameras to detect and then track incursions across the border, so we can deploy efficiently our most important resource: the men and women of Border Patrol to perform the most difficult task – interdiction.
“At the ports of entry, we need personnel, technology and infrastructure to enable our customs and agricultural inspectors to more effectively achieve their goals of stopping illegal trafficking and facilitating legitimate trade and travel.
“We especially want to thank President Trump, U.S. Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Gary Peters, D-Mich., U.S. Reps. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, Will Hurd, R-Texas, Vincente Gonzalez, D-Texas, Filemon Vela, D-Texas, and Peter King, R-N.Y., for their leadership in advancing these ideas. We encourage everyone to begin good-faith bipartisan negotiations immediately so that we can reopen the government and provide real security at our Southern border.”
# # #
About the Texas Border Coalition
The Texas Border Coalition (TBC) is a collective voice of border mayors, county judges, economic development commissions focused on issues that affect 2.5 million people along the Texas-Mexico border region and economically disadvantaged counties from El Paso to Brownsville. TBC is working closely with the state and federal government to educate, advocate, and secure funding for transportation, immigration and border security, workforce development, economic development and health care. For more information, visit the coalition website at www.texasbordercoalition.org. Follow TBC on Facebook and Twitter [#TXBorderCoalition] to keep up to date on all of the latest news about the coalition and its activities.
CONTACT:
Julie Hillrichs, (972) 971-0117