Orrrcs oF THE Govnnxon

RICK PERRY
GOVERNOR
}/.ay 28,2014
The Honorable Barack Obama
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D,C. 20500
Dear President Obama:
With the alarming surge in illegal immigration along the Texas-Mexico border, I am compelled
once again to call your attention to the public safety threats posed by the federal government's
failure to secure this critical border.
Since 2010, thernumber of apprehensions of illegal immigrants along th Texas*Mexico border
has increased by more than 90 percent, an alarming rise that shows the federal government's
failure to adequately secure the border. To put the growing natur of this problem in perspective,
the U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) has apprehended about as many illegal immigrants in the Rio
Grande Valley (RGV) in the first eight months of the current federal fiscal year (148,000) as it
did for all of fiscal2013 (154,453). Notably, more than half of those crossing the Texas-Mexico
brdei in this time were from countries other than Mexio (OTM),
Most alarming are reports of increasd human smuggling along the Texas-Mexico border.
Indeed a federal
judge late last year, in a ruling in a child smuggling case, accused your
administration of abetting human traffickers by fostering an atmosphere whereby illegal
immigrants are encouraged to pay human smugglers for further services. "This court is quite
concerned with the apparent policy of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of
completing the criminal mission of individuals who are violating the border security of the
United States. ...The failure by DHS to enforce current United States law concerns this Court
First and most importantly these illegal activities help fund the illegal drug cartels which are a
very real danger for both citizens of this country and Mexico," Judge Andrew S. Hanen wrote.
On multiple occasions your administration has suggested that the U.S,*Mexico border is safe.
Nothing could be further from the truth. 'With 64 percent of the U.S,-Mexico border, Texas has
seen more than its share of illegal activity stemming from inadequate border security, Incidents
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The Honorable Barack Obama
May 28,2014
Page2
involving illegal immigrants attacking law enforcement, cartel-related murders, kidnappings,
compelled prostitution and landowners being threatened or chased off their property are
commonplace.
This is a public safety issue not
just
for Texas, but also for our entire nation. USBP has reported
that many of those illegally crossing the border have originated from countries the U.S.
Department of State has deemed to pose a terror threat to the United States. Last year, Chicago
named a Mexican drug cartel leader as public enemy number one
-
a designation not given out
since it was used for Al Capone in 1930. And sheriffs across the United States share a growing
concern on border security as they are seeing drug and human trafficking, prostitution,
kidnapping and money laundering that cartels are conducting in the United States far from the
border. Unfortunately, the true scope of the problem is likely worse since even the FBI urges
that its own crime statistics not be used as true safety indicators as its reports fail to document
much of the cartel-related crimes, such as kidnapping and extortion.
While the multi-faceted threats to our nation's safety must take priority, we should not overlook
the humanitarian cost of inadequate border security. In May 201 3 alone, USBP reported
apprehending more than 1,100 illegal immigrants a day in RGV, of which more than 200 were
unaccompanied alien children (UAC). So far this year, 34,000 UACs have been apprehended in
Texas, and your federal agencies anticipate they will receive atotal of 60,000 by the end of the
fiscal year. By comparison, only 28,352 UACs were apprehended in Texas in frscal year 2013.
This drastic influx of border traffic is overwhelming the current state and federal resources along
the Texas-Mexico border and has resulted in DHS declaring a crisis.
Absent imminent reforms to our broken immigration system I, therefore, ask that you:
provide, at minimum, parity in the number of USBP agents stationed in Texas as
compared with the rest of the states bordering Mexico (Texas has about seven agents per
border mile while the other states combined have about 17 agents per border mile);
grant the request I made to you in 2009 to deploy 1,000 National Guard troops to the
Texas-Mexico border to support USBP operations until sufficient resources can be hired
and trained;
redirect resources from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
-
which you are currently
drawing down
-
to the Texas-Mexico border;
direct the Secretary of DHS to eliminate policies that, in effect, encourage human
smuggling and illegal immigration. (i.e. giving illegal immigrants a court date and
releasing them from custody when many of them fail to appear for court and remain in
the United States, releasing OTM UACs to their illegal immigrant parents in the United
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The Honorable Barack Obama
lli4ay 28,2014
Page 3
States that paid to have them smuggled into the United States, giving lawful presence
status and work permits to illegal immigrants);
release the results of the recent review of your deportation policies and provide full
disclosure to the American people who fund it. Do not delay the release of your report
for the political purposes of pushing through immigration reform in a vacuum; and
continue the Secure Communities program, which has proven to be a valuable law
enforcement tool that helps identify criminals when they are caught entering this country
illegally.
In Texas, we understand there can be no homeland security without border security. With the
number of adults and children crossing illegally into Texas rising so dramatically, the question of
whether our border is secure has been answered. Texas has had to fill in the gaps left by the
federal government
-
allocating hundreds of millions of dollars for border security through new
technology, improved communications equipment, law enforcement personnel and other
resources. Texas has stepped up to the plate. Now it is your turn. I ask you to take action to
prevent the situation along the U.S.-Mexico border from fuither escalating by providing more
resources to secure our porous border.
Sincerely,
a
/(k
Rick Peny
Governor
RP:afp
cc: Mr. Jeh Charles Johnson, Secretary, U,S. Department of Homeland Security