Speech #1090119633

President. pending somebody else wishing to speak. I can quote for the record about 3 statistics I think are meaningful with respect to this debate. I did not give a precise number on the number of illegal immigrants who died last year while crossing the United StatesMexican border. According to the most recent Border Patrol statistics. the number who died In 2005 was 473. That is the highest number since the Border Patrol began tracking such deaths since 1999. Another statistic is that last year. the U.S. Border Patrol apprehended 1.2 million illegal immigrants. which is roughly 1 person every 30 seconds. According to the Pew Hispanic Center. the estimate is that there are about 12 million illegal Immigrants in the United States today. and about 56 percent of them are Mexican citizens. Another statistic: The busiest U.S. Border Patrol station right now is the Yuma Border Patrol station. Last year. 138.460 immigrants were caught coming through that station. I see my colleague from California. The Senator from California was very concerned about the lawlessness right near San Diego and the environmental degradation. crime on both sides of the border. and illegal immigration through there. as well as drug smuggling. As a result. as we all know. a fence was constructed in that area. It is interesting. the fence clearly helped to prevent crossings. Right where the fence is. I am told. nobody has crossed illegally. and in that sector. the number of people apprehended declined from a peak in 1986 of 629.650just in that one area. which is phenomenal to me. that is astoundingfrom almost 630.000 just in the San Diego sector. it is now down last year to 126.000 illegal immigrants were caught near San Diego. That is still a lot of people. We can see the fencing in that area has clearly had a significant impact.