SHERIFF GARY PAINTER

Pat Kennedy talked to Sheriff Gary Painter in Midland, TX, about the illegal immigration situation. He agreed to fill out our survey and even though he's not a legislator, he selected the highest level of support he could, number 6. He also made a couple of comments that are important.

14. Create a criminal trespass offense for illegal aliens within the boundaries of the U.S. Reference: SB 773

He commented: "It is illegal for them to be here now!"

Sheriff Painter obviously feels the same frustration we do in that our current laws are not being enforced.

17. Requests that police officials make an effort to determine the citizenship status of jailed persons. Reference: HB 905

He commented: "I do this now!"

Kudos to Sheriff Gary Painter.

He also indicated he would like his Drug Task Force back. He needs his Drug Task Force back. If you haven't yet, please read Rep. Mike McCaul's report to Congress, "A Line in the Sand." It graphically illustrates just how bad the drug situation at our border is. I can't give you a link because it's a PDF file. But you can easily find it by using your search engine and search A Line in the Sand. Its whole title is "A Line in the Sand: Confronting the Threat at the Southwest Border." Crime is going up along the border and it's spilling over. The Midland-Odessa area is listed as a "hub" for drug traffic coming up from Mexico in this report. The drug cartels murdered 2500 people last year. They have already killed over 350 this year and it's only February! Sixty-five people have been kidnapped from the Laredo area. I read an article out of Phoenix a while back. I believe it stated that 300 people have been kidnapped from that area. Shawn Hannity had a documentary on the illegal immigration problem last night called "The Price We Pay." In that, he covered the massive amount of black tar heroin coming over the border which is sold to our children for $1-$2. It's an immediate addiction as bad as mainlining heroin. It can and has killed with the first ingestion. President Bush has recently rescinded all funding for Drug Task Forces; he stated that crime has gone down and the money is needed elsewhere. I find that insulting since he is planning on sending $1.4 billion to Mexico to help combat the drug and illegal immigration situation at Mexico's southern border. Sign On San Diego had a newspaper report not long ago that reported on one of the trucks involved in Bush's Mexican truck program was pulled over for a traffic violation and the truck was loaded with marijuana. American Patrol had pictures on their website of holes dug into ground on hilltops by Mexican drug cartels. These holes were filled with AK-47s and bazookas. These are lookout stations and they're located on our main highways as far as 300 miles within our borders and some of them were in our national parks. We used to like to go gold-hunting. Didn't find much but it made for an enjoyable time out. We no longer feel safe enough to go do this because we could run across heavily armed drug runners. Sheriff Painter and every other sheriff we have need their Drug Task Forces.