El Paso Border Chief Urges Immigration Reform

EL PASO, Texas (AP) – The chief of the U.S. Border Patrol’s El Paso Sector says that the key to curbing illegal immigration rests in the hands of Congress.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Chief Patrol Agent Victor Manjarrez Jr. said without comprehensive immigration reform, border agents will continue to split their attention between “economic migrants,” criminals, and potential terrorists.

The El Paso Sector encompasses 268 miles of border stretching west from Hudspeth County in far West Texas to the Arizona state line. Agents there arrested about 75,000 border crossers in fiscal year 2007. Manjarrez estimates that at least 87% of those were just looking for work.

The chief said agents “have encountered situations which lead us to believe there is a terrorism nexus.” He declined to provide specific details.

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