Washington (October 5, 2011) – The southwest border is a dangerous place and border county sheriffs play a big role in stemming illegal crossings and confronting cross-border criminal activity. But many illegal crossers manage to evade capture allowing them to commit crimes anywhere else in the country within a short time period.
The Center for Immigration Studies and the House Immigration Reform Caucus will host a panel discussion featuring sheriffs from different parts of the country, each of whom is dealing with crime problems that result from our failure to control the border and from lax enforcement of immigration laws.
The panel discussion will take place on Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. in Room 2226 of the Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC. Afterward, a video and transcript of the event will be posted on the Center's website. Please RSVP to press@cis.org.
Featured speakers will be:
- Rep. Steve King (R-IA), Vice Chairman of the Immigration Subcommittee and member of the Agriculture and Small Business Committees.
- Jessica M. Vaughan, Director of Policy Studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, will moderate the panel and briefly discuss the spread and location of alien crime in the United States. Vaughan is the author of several CIS studies on immigration and public safety.
- Sheriff Sam Page, of Rockingham County, NC, will discuss the outbreak of transnational drug trafficking activity in western North Carolina.
- Chief Deputy Steve Henry, of Pinal County, AZ, will describe the increasingly violent and organized smuggling activities of the Mexican crime cartels. More than just spillover violence, these dangerous organizations have been allowed to gain a foothold on the U.S. side of the border.
- Sheriff Dan Altena, of Sioux County, IA, will talk about the problems with identity theft and illegal employment that have arisen in his rural county in northwest Iowa.
In addition, these sheriffs will participate in a Q&A session following the speakers’ remarks:
- Sheriff Terry Johnson of Alamance Co., NC
- Sheriff Rick Davis of Henderson Co., NC
- Sheriff Tracy Carter of Lee Co., NC
- Sheriff Chuck Jenkins of Frederick Co., MD
- Sheriff Graham Atkinson of Surry Co., NC
- Sheriff Rick Oliver of Yadkin Co., NC
- Sheriff Alan Jones of Caldwell Co., NC
