Congressional Hearing on Immigration Enforcement & Reform

House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border, Maritime, and Global Counterterrorism

Hearing on "The Border Security Challenge: Recent Developments and Legislative Proposals."

Thursday, May 22, 2008, 10 a.m. Eastern Time

For live webcast of this hearing click here

Thursday, May 22, 2008 @ 10am Eastern Time

311 Cannon House Office Building

“The Border Security Challenge: Recent Developments and Legislative Proposals”

· Subcommittee on Border, Maritime, and Global Counterterrorism and Subcommittee

Witnesses (invited, partial):

Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-TX), Member of Congress

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), Member of Congress

Rep. Health Shuler (D-NC), Member of Congress

Chief David V. Aguilar, Office of Border Patrol, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security

Michael C. Kostelnik, Maj. Gen., USAF (Ret.), Assistant Commissioner, Office of Air and Marine, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security

Thomas S. Winkowski, Assistant Commissioner, Office of Field Operations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security

There will be a live webcast of this hearing.

Press Release from Immigration Policy Center

On Thursday, May 22, the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border, Maritime, and Global Counterterrorism will hold a hearing on "The Border Security Challenge: Recent Developments and Legislative Proposals." As lawmakers evaluate the border-enforcement initiatives that have already been implemented by the Bush administration, and the various enforcement proposals now on the table in Congress, they would do well to keep in mind that an enforcement-only approach to border security has been tried - and failed - for more than two decades.

In two new fact sheets, Money for Nothing: Immigration Enforcement Without Immigration Reform Doesn't Work and The Politics of Contradiction: Immigration Enforcement vs. Economic Integration, the IPC analyzes the escalating costs and fatal flaws of the enforcement-without-reform approach to border security. The reports point out that the number of undocumented immigrants in the United States has increased dramatically at the very same time the federal government has poured billions upon billions of dollars into border enforcement. Many U.S. taxpayers question the use of their tax dollars on failed deportation-only efforts, and are calling for fair and practical immigration reform.