Dead body and drones greet visiting officials to Mexican border
MOUNT OLIVE TWP. – The Texas public safety boat was cruising along the Rio Grande River that separates Texas and Mexico when Rep. Leonard Lance, R-7, and others spotted the body floating in the river.
It was a shocking site that dramatized the reason for the three-day trip by a handful of Congressmen to see firsthand the vast immigration problems along the southwest border of the United States.
The body seen on Tuesday, Aug. 6, was later determined to be that of a Honduran man believed killed as a result of the drug wars that plague Mexico.
Lance and Rep. Kevin Yoder, R-Kansas, boarded Blackhawk helicopters and patrol boats to tour the 2,000 miles of borders along Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California from Aug. 3-5. The visit was arranged by Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas, chairman of the. House Homeland Security Committee.
The seventh congressional district includes the Morris County municipalities of Mount Olive and Washington Townships, Chester, Chester Township, Long Hill Township, Mine Hill Township, Mount Arlington and Roxbury Township.
The most recent report from the House Homeland Security Committee shows that last year, 364,768 people were arrested as they attempted to enter the U.S. illegally. The vast majority _ 356,873 _ were caught crossing into southwestern states.
Authorities also said there has been growing concerns for the increasing numbers of illegal immigrants from Asia, Africa and the middle East who cross to the U.S. from Mexico.
McCaul has sponsored sweeping immigration reform legislation that is expected to win House approval by early October. The bill contrasts with a bill that has received Senate approval.
The entourage toured border security infrastructure and met with enforcement personnel in San Diego, Calif., Tucson, Ariz. and Texas border towns McAllen and Harlingen. Source
