Rep. Kirkpatrick Applauds Announcement of New ICE Office, Personnel in Casa Grande Representative Ann Kirkpatrick released a statement in support of the announcement by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that the agency will open a new office in Casa Grande
PoliticalNews.me - Aug 17,2010 - CASA GRANDE, AZ – Representative Ann Kirkpatrick released a statement in support of the announcement by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that the agency will open a new office in Casa Grande. Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for ICE John Morton said that seven new agents will be permanently assigned to the region.
This news came shortly after the Senate heeded Rep. Kirkpatrick's call to come back into session and pass a critical border security package - the President signed that bill into law on Friday. The Congresswoman has been working hard to push through measures to expand the U.S. Border Patrol and put more manpower and resources into action to secure the border and protect our communities.
Rep. Kirkpatrick released the following:
"I welcome the announcement that ICE will be bringing much-needed manpower to fight drug and human trafficking in Pinal County. This is a useful step towards cracking down on the Mexican drug cartels and making up for the failed policies that put our communities in harm's way.
"We have been pushing to make the federal government understand the threats we face, and this is another sign that they may finally be starting to listen. The city, county and all of Greater Arizona will be safer with these security personnel on patrol."
BACKGROUND:
Rep. Kirkpatrick has been a leader on border security issues in her first term, and she has been pushing the federal government to stop ducking the tough choices and start fulfilling its responsibilities.
While she is opposed to SB 1070, the Congresswoman feels that it has drawn much-needed attention to long-ignored issues, and she is calling on the White House and Congress to not waste the opportunity to make progress. Rep. Kirkpatrick has condemned the bill, the boycotts and the federal lawsuit against the state for doing nothing to help move forward on border security and immigration reform.
In May, the Congresswoman introduced the Southern Border Security Act which requires 3,500 new U.S. Border Patrol agents to be hired, trained and deployed at the U.S.-Mexican border by the end of next year. On Friday, the President signed a bill into law that she helped push through a weeks-long legislative back-and-forth to put 1,000 Border Patrol agents and additional security personnel and resources in action in the Southwest. Last spring, she introduced the Border Violence Prevention Act of 2009 to provide Customs and Border Protection (CBP) with improved weapons, better body armor and the modern technology they need to get the job done, along with legislation to give local, state and tribal law enforcement in Arizona new access to resources and information.
Rep. Kirkpatrick also introduced the Anti-Cash Smuggling Act of 2010 to allow CBP and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel to crack down on cartel use of stored value and prepaid cards to launder money, led the campaign against the White House’s proposed budget cuts to the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) and personally toured security operations along the border.
