Texas Insider Report: WASHINGTON D.C. The U.S. Border Patrol which falls under the Homeland Security Department is charged with apprehending aliens attempting to illegally cross U.S. borders. As CNSNews.com previously reported in fiscal year 2010 around 84 percent of the approximately 448000 illegal aliens arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol were not prosecuted.
These included individuals from special-interest countries like Afghanistan Libya Pakistan Somalia and Yemen and countries designated by the U.S. Department of State as state-sponsors of terror Iran Syria and Sudan" said Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas).
Its not just that were seeing immigration across our southern border from countries like Mexico people seeking to work and provide for their families" said Cornyn a member of the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on homeland security and terrorism.
Indeed in the last year alone where 445000 individuals were detained at the southwest border 59000 came from countries other than Mexico Cornyn said
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Special interest countries are those whose citizens are subject to enhanced screening by the Transportation Security Administration on U.S.-bound flights as a result of the attempted Christmas Day bombing of Northwest Flight 253.
After delivering his remarks at the 15th annual U.S.-Mexico Congressional Border Issues Conference Sen. Cornyn told reporters he asked the Director of National Intelligence whether the apprehension of the 663 individuals was national security vulnerability. He said yes it was so we need to do more" Cornyn said.
What the Obama administration is doing to secure the border more is obviously not enough" he added.
During his speech Cornyn criticized the Obama administrations border security efforts saying that Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano talks about the resources that have been devoted to border areas the so called inputs where Im really more interested in what the results or the outputs are." Signature: Muslim terrorist-mutilated bodies found along southern U.S. border Napolitano who also spoke at the event said taken as whole the manpower the technology the resources represent the most serious and sustained action to secure the border in our nations history and its clear from every statistical measure that the approach is working." Napolitano called Border Patrol apprehensions a key indicator of illegal traffic" along the U.S. borders and she noted the apprehensions have decreased 36 percent in the past two years and are less than one half of what they were at their peak. Sen. Cornyn suggested that a border security strategy should have a coordinated interagency approach" where the various federal entities charged with security along the border are working together and complementing one another. He also said that a good" border security strategy should be resourced appropriately." RELATED STORIES/VIDEOS: Terror Group Hezbollah Raking in Hundreds of Millions Right On Southern Border
