Texas lawmakers told immigration not their worry

State urged to fight crime, drugs, not immigration
By Brandi Grissom / Austin Bureau
El Paso Times

AUSTIN -- Experts, border officials and businessmen told Texas lawmakers Wednesday the state should stay out of the immigration business but do all it can to secure the border against violent crime and drug trafficking.

Texas lawmakers hoped the hearing would provide a better understanding of how proposed border security and immigration laws would affect border residents and how much authority Texas has to control the border.

"We are trying to find out really where the state's authority is and where it is not," said state Rep. David Swinford, R-Dumas, chairman of the House State Affairs Committee.

Much of the testimony Wednesday focused on whether state and local officers should enforce immigration laws.