U.S. Sen. John McCain is asking his close colleague, Sen. Joe Lieberman, to hold a hearing about border security in his capacity as chairman of the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
McCain said he believes the committee must hear from the Secretary of Homeland Security and the commissioner of Customs and Border Patrol about their efforts to secure the border, given federal data showing nearly 50 percent of illegal immigrants enter through Arizona.
But, he added, “it is particularly important to hear from local law enforcement officials” in Arizona and surrounding states to hear about the effects of illegal immigration on their communities.
“Arizona residents, law enforcement and many others in the country remain concerned about the federal government’s efforts to prevent ‘spillover violence’ from occurring on our side of the Southwest border,” he wrote in his request.
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McCain also requested a hearing about the failed Secure Border Initiative network program — which was scrapped after the government spent about $1 billion on a virtual fence that ran into cost overruns and technical problems. He said he wants committee members to “begin a complete and thorough investigation on how the department spent this money and ensure those responsible for this waste are held accountable.”
The request comes after Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano insisted in a speech at the University of Texas on Monday that the border is safer than most believe, pointing to increases in staffing and increasing drug seizures. According to a department release earlier this week, “It is simply inaccurate to state, as too many have, that the border is overrun with violence and out of control.”
