Hastert: 'Zero' entry by migrants

Group of mostly GOP lawmakers tours border
By Josh Brodesky
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Photo by James s. Wood

NOGALES, Ariz. — Saying there needed to be "zero penetration" into the United States by illegal entrants, House Speaker Dennis Hastert got a look Friday at the challenges faced by those trying to secure the southern border.

The Illinois Republican and a handful of other lawmakers, including Republican Rep. Jim Kolbe, from Southern Arizona, are visiting the border with Mexico.

On Friday, the group took a daylong tour in Arizona, including an afternoon stop in Yuma and a late-night ride-along with Border Patrol agents near Nogales. The congressional leaders visit El Paso today.

The border-security tour comes about two months after the Senate passed a bill that would give the chance of citizenship to millions of illegal entrants. Hastert has been critical of the proposed legislation, saying there needs to be a greater focus on border security.

During a press conference at the Nogales International Airport, he reiterated that stance saying he wanted "zero penetration" along the border.

"You gotta secure the border before you do other things," he said, referring to proposed Senate immigration legislation such as a guest-worker program and opening the citizenship process to the nation's estimated 12 million illegal entrants.

"We have a border that is bleeding, and we need to heal it," he said.