grande. for generations, they have had relationships and relied upon people from mexico coming over for the roundups, for all kinds of things, working on their ranches. people to move from other places to go there and work, it is seasonal. these families have had wonderful relations for generations. the wall cuts that off. the wall cuts off the migration of animals. wes bothers me a great deal, cut off the pathway through for so many mammals. birds are ok, but the mammals are not. there cooperate all

the time. situation.-win people should also think about the growth of the population in the world. people are on the move. host: we which are you with the mayor had -- what the mayor had to say about the building of this wall. coming up, we will talk to brandon darby, managing director and editor for breitbart texas. to talk about the legal and illegal immigration along the border. later, we will talk to a local immigration lawyer about what the law says on citizenship and deportation. but first, during our visit in april, we spoke with the mayor and asked him about donald trump's proposal to build a wall

along the u.s. mexican border and what impact that would have on his community. [video clip] >> horrible. we could not accept the wall. just looking at this matter from a mayor standpoint, it is devastating. it would do away with laredo, texas. we are the number one land force in the western hemisphere. ways ofother dealing with the situation. a wall would be heavily intrusive and offensive to the people who do business with mexico. granted, the immigration issue is huge and has to be dealt mexicout instead of --

in the next few years is going to be a very strong economic power. if we had a government as unstable as other governments in the middle east, you would see the mass movement of people. they are our neighbor. we have to deal with them and be patient. things will work out. host: it would do away with laredo? >> overcoming us. oh, yes. the border area as a region, there's over 6 million jobs created by border trade and commerce.

if we put a wall and get tougher with mexico, more jobs will go to the u.s., that remains to be seen. ,t would be too dramatic hurting trade and commerce, especially in the border area. i know for a fact that it would hurt us tremendously. back in april was able to visit the border town of laredo, texas. u.s. customs and border protection took us up in one of the helicopters they used to patrol the border. bridge oneen is where mexican and american commuters go back and forth every day on an hourly basis. we are live from that location. brandon darby is joining us.

cross ateople need to the border right there legally everyday? guest: one thing that is very interesting, 40 seconds before i toe on, we are standing next the cbp line where people come in legally and have their documents checked and three men ran andhe turnstile and those guys are now gone. whether they were carrying drugs for the cartel which is headquartered immediately behind us in the city of nuevo laredo or not, we don't know. three men just jumped the turnstile and ran. assume there are legal

avenues for people from mexico to come into the u.s.. though there are legal avenues, they are very difficult for the actual workers to get legal permission to come into the u.s.. the people who are able to come are those able to show they have wealth and resources and they will not stay. coming for the day to shop or work. worker,age agricultural it is difficult for them to come in legally. host: why is that? is the crux of the problem. it goes back into the 1930's and 1940's, really. we have a system that encourages people to come here illegally. oftentimes left of center people helpinge they are

people from mexico or central america by allowing our system to exist as it exists and a lot of right of center people, the funders of different republican are builders who have business models based upon the exploitation of foreign labor. they don't want to pay were have the same worker protections extended to folks. we end up encouraging a system that -- when people talk about as if it "the border" is this one monolithic thing or entity, it is not. there are different criminal groups who control different sections of the us-mexico border. and control different sections of mexico. the first three sections of sector,he rio grande

the laredo sector and the del rio sector, those are controlled by two groups that are the most brutal. past that come of the groups are not as brutal to average people as these two groups are. these two groups routinely make more money from illegal immigration than they do from narcotics. our system fuels that. people think they are helping the people from mexico by allowing people to come across a list of the, but they are not. -- illicitly, but they are not. host: talk more about this immigration that is fueled by our policy and the cartels making money off of this. how is this illegal crossing happening? and is itt happening

mostly mexican citizens? depends on which specific location and it changes routinely. have ishe problems we that customs and border protection, the management of customs and border protection are politically appointed and tend to not be as forthcoming with the public as they should be. here in laredo, when breitbart texas comes to the border and we bring politicians to the border, we do so unannounced. came tor, jorge ramos the border and he announced two weeks ahead of time. we came the weekend before and we filmed the entire area south of us. we filled the entire area where the leaders always take the

media. there were no lights, no physical barriers of any kind, one border patrol agent. , there wereday agents on atvs, a helicopter, two boats in the river, they pulled agents off of other areas and put them in this one area and jorge ramos came and told securities lookout -- look how secure it is. agents, to the actual you get into the importance of talking to them about what they are experiencing and not just the political appointees. host: brandon darby our guest here this morning. let's get to our first call.

alabama. good morning to you. caller: i was really interested in darby telling the truth about what's happening. i am a democrat, but i just have to go with trump because something needs to be done. if the people of mexico stuck together and change their -- i worked at mills and a lot of them moved to mexico. if people stood up there the same benefits we have -- -- demanding the same benefits we have -- guest: one of the approaches we

take at breitbart, we have a program called "cartel chronicles." the mexican border states, there's absolutely strict -- aol from the cartel ioate below the del r sector, the last governor is in trouble for helping the cartel. the last two governors are fugitives from u.s. justice for being surrogates of the gulf cartel. this is a very big problem. the corruption in mexico is a big problem. most of the politicians in these areific border states surrogates or have been surrogates of the criminal organizations that control those

regions. they have people who work in all the media outlets and tell cannotwhat they can and write about, what politicians to write about, which crimes they can write about. we try to find those people who want to speak out and tell the truth but would have their families murdered and throats whites killed and brutalized and children murdered and kidnapped, we find those people and allow them to write publishpseudonym and we those words in english and spanish. how can they possibly stand up when it comes to -- talk about revolutionary terms, the people of mexico cannot own firearms. the only people with firearms are the military and police who are oftentimes working for the and the cartels

have firearms. the people don't have much of an option when it comes to standing up. clearlyg we could do, the federation that controls a notof the border would follow -- the gulf cartels have crossed that line. that's what we ultimately did in columbia in 1997, we declared the drugrunning organizations as foreign terrorist organizations. that allowed us to go after everyone who took their money, the banks who launder their money, the politicians who work with them. on one hand, we have a verylican candidate who is willing to offend the corrupt .oliticians in mexico

unfortunately, he has offended most of the people in mexico. the other hand, you have a party who has not shown a willingness to offend the corrupt politicians in mexico. it is very tricky, the situation we are in right now. inn you speak with people the fbi, they will tell you, the state department constantly .ressures the fbi that's where you get into trade. complex issue and requires a complex resolution, much more than just a physical barrier. there's a lot of things we could not only thenimize problems we are facing, but the problems people in northern mexico are facing. if you are a politician in mexico and you do not go along with the cartels, what happens?

guest: you die. that simple. you get killed. if you are in mexico city, you are ok. if you are in one of the states bordering texas, you will get murdered and you will die. there is a governor, his brother was the one who worked for the etas, he was a fugitive and was arrested in spain. his son was killed. the next governor comes in and he has done a lot to fight the cartel, but the same amount of narcotics and same amount of human trafficking and smuggling is still occurring. so, another cartel has fill that vacuum. it is a very tricky situation for politicians in mexico.

we try to offer them as much support as possible. jorge ramos wins all kinds of awards and says he is an immigrants. we are an advocate for the people who are trying to fight back in mexico and we have no shame in that game at all. host: gary in ohio. good morning to you. caller: my question or comment is mainly -- see, everything is money. you will not see it on this program or any news program or newspaper. you can check pew, heritage foundation -- let people know

how many people in this country almost one million people , they will not give you the cost of illegals to the u.s., they will not give you the immigrants or the cost of comprehensive immigration. our politicians and news media have no guts. ?ost: brandon darby guest: i will tell you, there who aret of people actually anti-immigration. i'm not that at all. founder saidion's

he is with all the people who want to come here and work legally. i'm that guy. when it comes to the cost of actual immigration or the crime rate in immigrant communities, this is when things get very tricky. in comments that donald trump the bat and his campaign about people coming from mexico illegally, when he was interviewed by anderson cooper, they went from talking about illegal immigration and started to use a stats from legal immigrants, 25% of that number. you cannot have a discussion with anyone about illegal immigration without them skewing the facts by bringing in the numbers from all immigrants. those are people coming in who are able to follow years of protocol to get here.

know anecdotally that most people who come here legally are coming here to work hard. but i also know that in the ,hree years we reported on this i supported over 7000 previously convicted sex offenders from the state of texas alone -- we know that there are problems with crime. we don't know who comes across that border -- when you come to the border, most politicians go to el paso and helped the low crime rate in el paso. el paso actually has a wall, that most of the state of texas does not.

we have roughly 100 miles with actual wall or some kind of physical barrier and the rest is not. we don't know who comes across. i don't really get into that. i'm interested in challenging this criminal groups who -- those criminal groups who operate in this country come i'm interested in challenging them and drawing up their funding so that mexico can actually develop day, we cannot a symbiotic economy like we have with canada. where people in mexico do not feel the need to come here to feed their families because we are doing something as a nation to address the criminal groups and corruption that controls

their country. to find any information on that because the groups who compile the information always include 75% more people from these legal immigrant communities host:. we're talking with brandon darby , managing editor of breitbart texas. ,vette capturing earlier today brandon darby talking about three men jumping the turnstile there and running into the city of laredo. u.s. customs and border protection agents running after them. one -- at bridge one

this morning. , another issue brandon darb that has come up, unaccompanied minors coming from central america. you had a story in june of 2014 with pictures that were leaked to you of the children and where they were detained. i want to have you react to what u.s. customs and border protection told us about these unaccompanied minors that started coming back in 2012. [video clip] washat we saw on the ground people looking for a better life. officers taking it too hard heart because the

ports of detention are designed long-term detention. >> how old were these children? toanywhere from three months 17 years of age. >> when they arrive at the border, what do they tell you? >> they wanted to be reunited with her family members already in the u.s. -- their family members already in the u.s. or escape the gang violence. happen?would then that shouldd get

they would make arrangements to send them to a shelter. >> they think that there was no adult with them. is that always the case? >> that is not always the case. smuggler, aly had a guide taking them to the port of entry. it could be a parent. either way. teenagers, they might make the journey by themselves. this a discussion earlier year in april with u.s. customs and border protection right at bridge twof entry at

. you covered this story as well for breitbart texas. that: what i would say is one of the things we did at that how we access to the 43 photos we published, that story has been reported a couple of ames, and increased -- increase inn minors crossing the border, it did not take hold. it was the images, seeing the faces of those minors and children that had an effect. it was not only the lead story on breitbart, but also the lead story on "the huffington post." -- it crossedide that divide between the left and right.

when we published that story, telemundo station and they told them that the photos were made up, they were fake photos. cbp finally admitted they were actually the real photos of the stations inl nine the rio grande valley sector. it has been a tricky thing to get information from cbp. we are not talking about the officers chasing those guys through laredo right now. we are not talking about the border patrol agents also under cbp but we are talking about the politically appointed management , the ones who have historically been less than forthcoming with the american public. there are push factors and pull factors. in many partsthat

of mexico and central america, it can be very horrible to live there. there are circumstances there that are atrocious. those are called push factors. our policies create pull factors. more we accept and open up to people coming illegally and we do reward that, the more we do that, the more people actually come. --re's a number of problems let's go to a place where a lot of the people who call in on the , theratic line humanitarian consequences of that open border and is creating pull factors. let's talk about the average young woman from central america who comes to the u.s. illegally. her parents generally will put becauseirth control

there's the expectation of multiple sexual assaults or journey -- ar group shuffles them across mexico in a series of stash houses. they are put in a stash house in high laredo, instance of scabies and commutable diseases. if they are attractive, generally, they find themselves in a spot where they are sexually abused and assaulted. once they are brought across the river, they are put in another stash house in mcallen and usually, they are sexually assaulted again. they are taking in a car, let out several miles and went of or before a second border checkpoint.

outcome of may to march for three or four days, usually sexually assaulted again , and there was a phenomenon called rape trees. take an article of clothing off the women and tied them tightly to a tree. local stations have reported on that and npr has talked about it, so it is actually happening. that -- thelife journey that people make, so i would contend that anything that encourages that journey, that creates more factor -- more pull factor is unfair to people. it is a dark stain, and something historically we will look that gone, our current system, and we will be ashamed of it as a nation. host: let's get some numbers behind what you are talking about.

the us-mexico border apprehensions in the first six this notesach year, the surge in every pensions of children. 10 in south carolina, thank you in southng -- ken carolina, thank you for waiting. it is not the 1600, america is not growing like that. the unemployment rate is way --her, do not cut me off, all the naacp, the hundred immigration is hurting the working poor blacks and the working poor whites. you have people calling all over

the united states saying they cannot get to work. friends that did roofing and contracting and made decent money. they pay taxes, they took their families to the beach, and now they are being undercut. host: we hear your point. i think i understood the callers point. thati would say to that is it is a difficult situation for some industries. the former agricultural commissioner of texas put out a he said, andis and i think he is correct, that if you took the entire number of agricultural workers who were

needed in the united states and were legally allowed to come into the united states, texas alone needs three times that number of agricultural workers. have become very dependent on our current system, is a system of encouraging illegal immigration. on the other hand, when it comes to low skill level jobs like in hotels or what have you, there is some truth, that there are a lot of people who are in the u.s. legally who are disenfranchised by people who are here illegally. though thek that numbers of overall illegal immigration are allegedly down, there is athat difference in the people who are coming in what i mean is seven years ago, maybe eight out of 10 were workers, one of the things our reporting has revealed is now you're looking at seven to

eight out of 10 who are mothers or small children. it does have the potential to really be a drain on the system and limit what is available to u.s. citizens. host: a recent headline to go with that, three illegal immigrants including three-year-old child abandoned by human smugglers. don in pennsylvania, good morning. caller: good morning and thank you for all of your work. -- i think the emigration rates in the united states, the legal , we have to create 300,000 jobs each month, which the u.s. economy is barely doing. feel with the plight of mexicans in mexico, and if i

were there, i would either flee or try and fight back, but how can they fight back? my heart goes out to them, and i am conservative. i think the poll to vote on donald trump -- to vote for donald trump is circumstance. we put our hope in him, is the only one who is talking about immigration. what do you think about the politicians and donald trump supporters? he has said a lot more than he is going to build a wall, and that is what the media focuses on. was donald trump did that very different, and there is a lot of reasons to criticize donald trump, but the way he is handling the border, there is not much room to, and from a -- from a border security

perspective, the management of -- it has historically and verifiably been less than forthcoming with the american people. there is no way to actually know what is happening on the order unless you talk to the border patrol agent who are veterans of --tecting and securing trying to secure the border and those agents are not allowed to talk to you, so what do you do russian mark gilly think you're left with is the national border patrol council which is the union that represents 16,500 border patrol agent's who serve on the border. that is the only thing you're left with, so what donald trump saidone is he basically this is the only voice that the agents have, so any policy discussion about border security

need to have the national border patrol council, actual veteran agents at the head of the table, so there was a lot more to what he is trying to do, because he is not really saying what i'm going to do, he is saying here are these experts and i'm giving that our to hold accountable to, and i think that is a significant point, as far as what he is trying to do. what i think is needed is a lot more, i think there are some areas that need physical barriers, others arty have them and some don't. i would say that our current system is obviously a failure, where we concentrate all the agents in large cities, and then we leave the areas in between the cities open, will that is resulting in problems for u.s. citizens and also a lot of debts are people who come into this country illegally, women and children and what have you. hopefully this

is -- i know this is what many people in the national border patrol council feel, is that you have to actually increase the resources to the u.s. attorney's office, so that they're going by broken windows theory and prosecuting for smaller crimes and not letting those crimes go for people who enter illegally. you have to increase the resources in the fbi to make sure there is more work to fight public corruption which currently does happen. we had an agent who was accused cell with the federal -- with the gulf cartel. you need those increased resources, you need to have the thee department back off department of justice and that the fbi do their job. there are a whole number of steps that are needed but ultimately, the wall itself is not going to work without -- the

wall is not going to work -- not even a wall we are talking about, it is a series of fences and it will not work without other staff, maybe widening the entry and allowing some worker programs or more people to come and work legally and really take the economic engine away from those cartels. there is a whole bunch of steps .hat are necessary host: you did at a time serve as an undercover with the f the eye, can you explain that a little bit more, and do you still work with the fbi? initially, i worked with the fbi and their confidential human source program in counterterrorism, but i later went on -- what happened was a ,umber of people who after that

a number of people who worked with human trafficking victims approached me and said they were having a difficult time getting the fbi or any law enforcement agencies to help the human trafficking victims in the u.s., so i got involved in that, i turned my home into a shelter for human trap victims. what really matters here is that i began to work with them to counter human trafficking and then help the victims and one of the things that i started to notice was that most of the people i was helping did not speak english, most of the people i was helping were victims because of our open border and that is what brought me to focusing in on the criminal organizations, the two specifically below texas.

what brought me to that was working with the fbi. i do not work with them now, i am officially a journalist and there are a number of legal reasons that i cannot work with them. do i cooperate with law enforcement in my effort to go andr mexican cartels support victims of those cartels? 100%. this is a problem when it comes to activism on the border or for human trafficking victims, a requires that you have a relationship with law enforcement agencies, not only local and county, but state and federal. people who are victims cannot legally stay and testify unless you have a -- unless they work with law enforcement, and helped to put the that people away who are exploiting them, so that is what i brought me -- that is what brought me to what i do now. host: we will hear from north

carolina, next. caller: i have a couple of things to say and then a question. , my an american citizen parents were here, my grandparents, great-grandparents were all americans. i want one thing clarified. as an american, i am not against legal immigration. legal immigration has always been a part of america, and i have great respect for people who come in, legally and maintain citizenship, without falling into the criminal domain. what i and i'm sure there are others who i hope into are coming on it work visa and never going home, at

that point, they become illegal. host: your question? are killing our young people across america. the federal government is to protect us against exactly what is going on, and i agree with this gentleman that says our law enforcement needs to be strong in america. my question is, what does this gentleman see that can be done that the politicians will uphold laws thattution and have been put in place to keep america safe? guest: i think most people are

in favor of legal immigration. are,e not found many that so i agree with the caller on that. i think most people are in avery illegal immigration, i think that our current system encourages illegal immigration, the legal immigration fuels systems of oppression in bad and we areis not only hurting ourselves, we are hurting people in mexico who don't have the ability to defend themselves. that said, it is very easy for atple to be upset and angry the people who come here illegally, but i actually -- i'm not, why get upset at are the politicians who encourage it in the politicians who know that we are in a situation for so many women are being sexually assaulted, sony children coming from central america and mexico, and they allow the system to

continue. oron't blame the republican not wanting comprehensive immigration reform, entitled blame just the democrats, i blame both parties when it comes to holding them accountable. both parties know that there are ways that we could do something inaddress our current system both parties make every effort to continue to allow this to be a wedge issue to benefit them, politically. host: that caller mentioned drugs coming into this country. according to u.s. customs and border protection, in fy 2016, this is the amount of different drugs that quarterly results for the laredo sector of what cbp seized at the border. baton rouge, louisiana, good morning. caller: good morning. , have two points real quick

first of all, if immigration was so wonderful, why does mexico allow immigration from its southern border that of killing hundreds of central americans each year? is, we can stop illegal immigration tomorrow if congress would come up with a votehat no immigrants can or they have to vote republican, if that would be the case, president obama would put the 101st airborne division on the allhern border to keep illegal aliens out of the country. guest: i'm going to address that call and i'm also going to address the numbers that he put up on the screen -- that you put up on the screen. they are lying, they are being dishonest, because they don't know.

i've spent more time in the sector than any of the other nine sectors and what i do is i think politicians, political leaders, people who have a voice, and power to do something, i kick into the sector unannounced and i show them stuff. the problem is if we were to go several miles right now he's on the river, there is an area and i was there several weeks ago, i think video that you might show later of illegal immigration. host: we can show it brand-new. to those guys were cartel members, smugglers and the others were workers, presumably who are coming here to work, but two of them were not, and that was there. when that occurred, i had to drive around a minute before i

found a border patrol agent or any law enforcement whatsoever. they do not have enough people assigned, and if they do have enough, they sure do not have them assigned appropriately and that is why laredo is so interesting because unlike el paso, they don't have fences, they don't have agent assigned every so often, there are very few agents assigned and less cameras are here. when cameras are -- unless cameras in media is here. if i challenge anyone to go with me to the creek, you will not find any agents, and they will tell you, we don't like to go there because we are alone and we get attacked. we put out a report several part whereabout a they had a problem with drug smugglers running through the children's park in the middle of the day with truckloads, storing

it in trucks and driving off and nobody did anything. a city councilmember who is a contacted us, and he gave us pictures of during a kids sports game, they struck smugglers ran loads through the football field at the half yard line and into trucks and drove off and finally, only after a lot of media measure to the city of laredo or the county actually put someone there and eight-hour to monitor the area, but that was after month of official complaining and residents complaining about it and nothing happened. that is what we are dealing with, this situation were there is a lot of misinformation, from the right, about what goes on a lot of misinformation from the left, the people in these communities often times, the political leaders have economic reasons to continue to use the ucr crime reports, which the fbi

director said to us on record, are not representative of cross-border crime, they continue to use the outdated system and point to a couple of cities like el paso and say look, the border's safe, look at el paso, with technology that el paso has a level of 39 the other cities in texas have -- level of security that none of the other cities in texas have. texas was asking -- reporter on border it -- report on border issues, but only the ones that remote a leftist narrative. we reported on a issue of a two smugglerswho attempted to rape her in texas a month and a half ago, and her mother thought the smugglers to stop them, and i mean like under the age of 10, and she got brutally beaten, and the border

patrol agency went on record about it, but we were the only agency in the state of texas who reported it, no one else chose to report that issue, so this is a problem we are having with misinformation, from both sides. you have one site claiming there are isis terrorist on the border, which i do not believe there are, then you have another purposefully diminishing and not reporting on things that make people concerned about how open our border is. host: if our viewers want to learn more about your reporting, they can go to your website. thank you for your time, this morning. we will continue live from laredo, texas and coming up, we are talking with -- talking about immigration laws. we are in laredo, texas which is right across from mexico and the

sister city of nuevo the wave of -- nuevo laredo. a localtalk with nelly, immigration lawyer specializing in citizenship. we will talk with mexican a merciless -- mexican american journalist -- about the violent cartels on the other side of the border, and the politics of immigration. , a remindersituated that the washington journal will be live again, tomorrow from this border town to talk about trade. -- a value of 166 lien dollars in import. talked with customs and border protection about the flow and volume of trucking in

laredo, what some call nafta on wheels. take a look. $166 billion in goods imported in fiscal year 15, over 3 million commercial conveyances. here at the port of entry alone, a little over 2 million trucks, hundred $15 billion in trade. a little over 6000 trucks a day are coming through this lot. we risk assessment, determine what needs to be examined, the ship that is released, and then after the ship and is released, our job has not ended. we still continue to look at paperwork after the fact, to make sure that we are collecting all of the proper revenue and

making sure the goods are in compliance with all u.s. government rules and regulations. cdb enforces the laws and regulations of 40 other federal agencies. last fiscal year, the field office took in over $200 billion in duties collected. fundfees are a separate that the master of the conveyance, the trucker will pay, and that goes into the ,eneral fund that helps to pay offset the cost of our exams and otherwise. >> money from duties goes to the treasury? >> that is correct. it goes into the general coffers. back and you are looking at the world trade bridge where 6000 to 8000 trucks

cross every day. -- ites of about 800,000 happens right there at the world trade bridge and we will be there, tomorrow to talk about trade and the north american free trade agreement. includesp -- congressman henry claire who represents the laredo area, and we will also talk to a critic of nafta, who is take director with a texas fair trade coalition. washington journal, live from laredo on trade, tomorrow. import, 3on in million commercial trucks and 2015, 56 million passengers and pedestrians, 20.3 million vehicles and about 72,000 buses, officials,ed by port with u.s. customs and border

.rotection in the laredo area we are now back at bridge one with local immigration lawyer nellie b elma. the laws that are on the books, what is the u.s. law -- what does the u.s. law say about illegal immigration in this country? when is it illegal? illegal when it has not been done by the proper channels that the law provides for an unfortunately because of an immigration system and the need for apprehensive immigration, illegal immigrant -- immigration has been piling up. i remember in 2001, it was a forn-year period of waiting the setback logs -- the set -- visa backlogs.

issuesre part of the that have created this illegal immigration, as well. andried to get the reforms, that is one of the parts that congress needs to look at order to fix this problem -- look at in order to fix this problem. host: who is trying to cross the border, illegally? guest: they are usually coming here because they are fleeing, it could be poverty, it could be violence, rape, seeking asylum due to their faith, or nationality, so we see a lot of different people at the border, is it because of asylum or they're looking for a better way of living. one of the issues that we have is the supply and demand.

it started from the need of the u.s. to have employees and sometimes, under very low wages and conditions. -- we created -- come the depression, we started deporting -- president truman deported mexicans because that was cheaper than sending europeans back through boat. it has been the result of supply and demand. more recently, i was reading about katrina, the katrina cleanup efforts was primarily undertaken by a lot of hispanics. over 100,000 hispanics took residence in new orleans to help with rebuilding efforts, and to this day, the university have

been making studies as to how they were working under the conditions and unsafe conditions and some of them haven't even gotten paid to this day, 10 years after katrina. there were people like halliburton that got contract from the federal government and the department of justice and the department of defense as well, and these workers were bases and they have not gotten paid. some of them were taken advantage of and once they had done the rebuilding, they said we will not pay you, we will call immigration on the police, such a this day, they have been filing under the federal labor standards which is not -- which does not work iru to have federal papers to be paid. it is a shame that to this day, that we have not paid some of basically it has a lot

to do with supply and demand. if you will not hire anyone illegally, then they will not come. job as the immigration attorney is to see clause that will help people be able stay here. creating jobs for the community, we have over 40% of our fortune 500 companies that were created and started by immigrant entrepreneurs, so we have a lot of people that come through this offer legal channel, north american free trade agreement as well as professionals, so we are bringing a lot of people when it is convenient for us, to build the economy, to bring more jobs, and it is a shame what is happening right now, particularly with the loss of families and attention. it takes us back to the concentration camps of world war

ii. we went to protest at a facility that can house up to 2000, 400 -- 2400 women and children. we are still treating them as he did back in world war ii, and concentration camps, some people are entitled to due process, our country was built for immigrants, by immigrants and it is a shame that nowadays there is a lack of due process. we are spending $20 million a year in enforcement, and we are deporting over 43,000 people, so there is loss in effect, we are spending too much on these facilities because we have a quota of 34,000 people per day have to be -- detained in order for the budget that was approved by congress. that needs to be appealed. students have crossed the than the last two years, seeking asylum in the u.s. and it is so easy for

cubans to do that, and they are even $800o do that, in year, for resettlement, so this is something that should be repealed and i think our congressman has initiated in congress, but it is difficult to see that people still are working under the regime of the 1966 act. if this was repealed, we will be able to help more refugees who were fleeing because of the violence in the country, because of rape, that is where the effort to be for resettlement and refugees. host: who gets deported and who gets to say? stay?s day -- to guest: anyone that has a history

, that goes to the group -- due process of the court. there is often a lot of discretion by border patrol at the bridge. 70% increase in the lack of due process means expedited removal and reinstatement, what people do not get this -- where people do not get to see a judge that leads to an increase, more recently and there are people who do have the due process and the judge will determine based stay. laws, who gets to record,ave a criminal you will not be able to stay in the country, but is not what our law wants and that is not what we want as a country. hardship, youme have you just -- u.s. citizens, you have behaved under our laws, you are able to stay if you qualify. that everybody gets to stay.

-- if you have relatives who are u.s. citizens or have a child that is going to encounter hardship, so those are very high standards of law that we have to approve before a court in order for a person to stay, so it is not easy to try to stay in the country. there is very little recourse to people who are going to be able to remain. what is more disturbing is other people who have been legal revenue -- residents for many laws do not apply, so they can backtrack and say when you were 17, you stole it. peering since genes, and now you are deportable because the laws changed and they are retroactively apply to you. it was very sad that our laws allow for that, but it is a

difficult situation when you have to go before immigration and it is all in the line of discretion. our law provides some avenues, but they are very narrow for people to stay once they are placed in deportation proceedings. your questions and comments, about immigration laws on the books and in jackson, tennessee, you are up. caller: good morning. to me, the whole problem is the injustice and the greed and insane war on drugs. -- a is a letter from letter to the u.n., humankind cannot afford a 21st-century drug policy as ineffective and counterproductive as the last centuries, but this whole thing, the united states has the best neighbors you can hope or, canadians and ends and oceans, but to me, the private privet --

prison industry wind to house these mothers and children, to me it is a disgrace, and all immigration,llegal we are a nation of immigrants. it is insane what we are doing, blocking all these people up and then you have the guy on their talking about all the drugs. if they were legal, the drug cartels money would be cut in half. me, that we keep this war on some drugs going. and our immigration policies. host: do the laws on the books say that law enforcement in this country has to detain these women and children? they're coming here in large numbers from central america, what are they supposed to do?

currently, they are detaining them, but there are alternatives to detention. monitoring.ctronic this is a more humane way of treating these immigrants that are coming here for refuge, for toldm, immigrants have other nations, can you open your borders to other nations, yet we cannot open to our brothers in the south. sent twoan government fleets of soldiers to come and help with rescues and the efforts because mexico has suffered earthquakes and so they trained people to come and help at times of need. and helped us in our state that is not the treatment you

want to give somebody that is your neighbor. you do not want to shut the door because it is inconvenient at this time and i agree that the supply and demand, there is no law to address the drug issues, and there is no possible way that you can control that at the border, so it has a lot to do with immigration reform, and it didery shameful, that we not learn our lesson from world war ii and we still have cuts theon camps in texas, biggest, a 2400 strong facility with women and children who are practically jailed, and that is not normal. i went to one of the marches, last year. a big gap to say it is going to

bh out care facility. i hope that the nation can see that this is not the treatment that people coming in seeking refuge from violence -- and that we do not show the world that we cannot understand and regress and come up with alternative ways to assist and monitor. they should at least have due process, which is what the laws allow for, but they should not be detained. if we get rid of the cuban adjustment act which makes it so easy for people to come and see asylum, this will open the doors -- back in the 60's, maybe it was -- nowadays, we see that our

neighbors in the south are the ones that need that resettlement, the ones that are fleeing violence, rape and murder, and we should be able to open the door and allow them to and to be ables -- why couldn't people from other countries have the same regulations when they are here? those are some of the , andnatives to detention we are spending $2 billion a year in immigration detention facilities, plus over $400,000 a year to house these families in detention. it takes $1030 a day for a family of three to be detained. this is not the way that we should be treating our neighbors in the south. host: we are talking with an immigration lawyer for the law

firm in laredo, texas. getting your questions and comments this morning, about immigration laws that are on the books as we continue to be live from this southern border town throughout today's washington journal and tomorrow, we will focus on trade when we go back to the world trade bridge. more of your phone calls here, minnesota, good morning. guest: -- caller: good morning. you, i did not need a mexican on the east coast, there were not mexico -- mexicans there. there were people from el salvador and other countries and our black brothers and sisters would come and try to get jobs and people from the mountains would come who were white, and uneducated, and they tried to get jobs. they would come to our door and ask us for work. i tried to split it up and be fair, because we had so many people asking her work, but i

watched all of it, and they are taking jobs away from the americans, and i don't care what that lawyer says, if you go into the stores, you see all products from mexico, that means there are industries going on, there are -- they are doing very well in mexico, but they are opening their doors and allowing all the drugs and human traffic in, all of the everything that is coming through. host: nelly, respond. basically, there is a big misconception that most of illegal immigration comes from mexico, because we are the next or neighbors, but when you hear about the 11 million undocumented people that are they are 45% from other countries. just last year, there were over

visas from europe. visa come in with a or passport and overstay. was onlytay my mexico 43,000, so there is a lot of misconception as far as who gets to come in, but as to what the caller was talking about regarding jobs, the busy example of what i saw was the reconstruction of katrina. who went out there to do the dirty jobs? who work -- woke up early and worked 14 hours a day under very harsh conditions, removing mold and asbestos, cleaning up corpses? nobody else lifted a finger, nobody wanted to do the hard work. what i see coming from other

countries is that they come here with a goal, and they come here to work and work hard, it will cup every morning and they work very long hours because they did not come here to just wait a payout fromfor the government, they came here to work and reach their goals. i was pleasantly surprise to see with the different actions for students, that a lot of them are professionals, we have lawyers, we have doctors. in one of myst clients, i have a client with the double masters degree. children came illegally because their parents wanted to have a better future for them, but it is not their fault to say -- to blame them for the sins of their parents and for them to face deportation. the only thing that distinguishes them, if you brought in a baby of two or three months old and they had been schooled in the u.s. and pledged allegiance the flag, the

only thing that is different is that they don't have a paper, but a lot of them are highly educated and highly skilled workers, so that those are some of the misconceptions that i have seen in the immigration arena were people write a late -- right away play mexico. from other countries, other continents, so people need to wake up to that fact. host: we go to the ni, virginia. vienna,end of, -- the virginia. caller: she keeps saying concentration camp, but it is a detention -- detention center, that is a a -- that is a bit of hyperbole. i enjoyed your previous guest. he mentioned that people are anding raped on the way up it seems like nobody wants to put order on the border.

comparison, that was a systematic immigration where you had checked in europe for diseases because people were getting paid to put you on a ship, they did not want to come back because it was too expensive, and people were getting processed in the country and there is no process into the country. host: nelly. -- you have to go through it -- immunization, medical exams and pretty much what is happening back then in ellis island happens all across the world in different u.s. embassies that have the isas forns or v immigrants or nonimmigrants and -- even legal immigration

always people have to go through medical examinations, criminal backgrounds as well. he mention the family detention, you are wearing a button that says and we did -- and family detention -- end family detention. guest: i have been able to get many out of bond because they host: when of asylum these families are detained, by u.s. customs and border protection, what happens to them after they are handed over to the next agency, immigration and customs enforcement, what is the process like and at what point do you get council or can you have counsel? guest: the families have to look

for someone who represents them, what is the reset is that we cause this process of yet we are -- putting them in jail, and they did not have a right to a free attorney, so the family needs to be able to afford an attorney, or a lot of the nonprofits are --ping out a member of because we do not have a right to a lawyer, and this is part of the issue that has caused deportation of u.s. citizens that did not know that there were u.s. citizens, but they did not have representation in deportation proceedings. i have had 18 clients that i have brought back as u.s. citizens that were deported, and several that -- some of them were several times, deported. host: kansas, go ahead.

caller: good morning, i just want to say that earlier on, this guy you were talking with, he said that he did not have to be people to our side on the border, and yet they had a lack of information, from the government. this is my own idea, i don't think -- it is a huge problem in the world. said thousandsey of kilometers of drugs were missing, how do you see that? he said you see drugs in the street. people work very hard on the heart conditions, they get paid peanuts, and at the end of the day, you see drugs on the street. how do you think this can be caught? this is my own expectation and

understanding, it is a huge problem. host: i'm going to go to john in north carolina. i actually do a lot of reading in politics, and i'm provisions that allow anchor babies and when the working amendment was written, it said all persons born or naturalized in the united states are citizens of the united states, and the states in which they reside, there have been furthercases that defined that, one of them was the slaughterhouse cases with out versus wilkens where they clarified the subject to its jurisdiction where it was interpreted to exclude children and ministers, counsel citizens

born in the united states, and the further ron, they had case in 19 -- 1898 that further the persons subject to jurisdiction to exclude people who came to the country without permission, i.e. illegally. crossing the border without going to the immigration process. how is it that we can have lawyers who are supposed to uphold the law, when we have these precedents that specifically exclude the anchor .aby term and host: i'm going to have nelly jump in.

i think the war on drugs is a difficult issue, there is drugs on every street in america, not just on the border, and that is a big misconception. zone,have a militarized and i don't think that you see in many communities, across the police officers running along, stopping somebody for a traffic ticket and the border patrol running alongside him in the same cap doing a drive-through immigration expection -- inspection. with supply and demand of drugs, and the addiction that we have in this country, and we suffer for that in order for our streets to be more controlled. as far as the immigration and citizenship, i think that the laws have been involving -- your

time to make revisions, there are different ways for people to have the backtrack to their ancestors or different requirements and be able to be -- he derives citizenship, even if they were not born in this country, if their mother and father was born here and confer that citizenship, but their relation, we have different sets that allow for that, and as far as what you were mentioning, anchor babies, the laws are so in need of reform, that you happen to have your baby in the u.s. and you go back to your child -- hat they want to petition -- if the mother happens to have older or younger siblings or they don't have -- you can only immigrate the mom, and obama supposed to

leave behind all the children, so there is a lot of -- that needs to be call for family unification, and what we do is andook at the circumstances follow the evidence and documentation to prove in some of the cases that i was mentioning, the last three or four years, they have over 18 people that were disgracefully deported. one of them served eight years in federal prison for reentry after deportation when in fact he was a citizen, berries -- based on our laws. passed lawsgress that we are not following because they do not have a right to an attorney when they go to these detention facilities. host: south carolina, alyssa has been waiting. caller: thank you. i was listening to her and cheaper trade that the illegals are victims, but not all of them

are victims. most of the people that ideal i need translation for my local hospital, and the girls came here with preparation that they were ready to deliver a baby in order to have the prepared,so they were and they were in different centers of illegal acts and in north carolina, they were given fake documentation number -- in order to get here and deliver the baby and claim the benefits. i'm not saying that everyone who comes here is a victim. my practice over the past five years, i have represented over 300 victims and people who the description of a crime.

been of people may have coming here, seeking the benefits and that is a percentage, so there is all and that is why our laws address the different cases, but still they are kind of far behind, and when he to catch up on our immigration reforms and take into account a lot of these factors and have a better system for immigration. host: tony in new jersey, you are on the air. caller: good morning. there are laws on our book about ,mmigration, so i want to ask when these people come here, and because i the laws, was supposed to just justify and let them stay here after we know they broke the law? -- thethat sell drugs

laws on the book says if you sell drugs, you get locked up, that is our law, so why do we have to accept laws of people coming in here illegally and there are laws on the book. if these corporations that hire these illegal people, and is paying them for cheap labor, if we go after corporations and see if you have hired illegals and or, make these corporations pay these illegals what they should be paying u.s. citizens, then we would not have this problem. host: we will get a response. guest: i think that whatever people break the law, they will have the consequent and more so if you are here illegally, because there is a detainment placed on you. you go to jail for a particular crime, the government has a 34,000 coda daily for immigration to tatian -- detainment. not only are they not able to

post a bond, they are supposed to, soon as they are done with that rhyme or detention or prison sentence, now they are supposed to go to the second collateral consequence and go to an immigration detention facility and be processed for , and i don'trt think that anybody that is -- has committed a crime and is here illegally is going to get away with it because there is additional detainment and additional processes that they have to go -- undergo for deportation. host: alex in kentucky. go ahead. us?you with caller: i had a question and a comment.

host: we will go to kirk in jamaica. good morning. i was: good morning deported from the united states just a little bit over six months ago, and i used to be in , ias, so what she is saying have been through it, i was detained for two and a half case, and iing my was unfairly deported, and there is no justice in the system, and i was -- most of the immigrants there were females. were females at any given time and i know what you talking about because i have been through it.

two-and-a-half years, no bond. i am going through the process right now, and luckily i have an interview coming up soon, but i have a couple of hurdles that i have to interview coming up soon, but i have a couple of hurdles i have bar,oss, like the 10 year i have to go file a waiver. i am not through the gates yet. i might come back to the united states. it depends on the process i have to go through in the next few months. host: kenny speak to his case? examplehat is a perfect of how the system is broken down. 2.5 years, that is a long time. are in theuence, we country illegally.

the case is taking very long and the appeals process is taking very long. he may qualify to come back to the country. will have to go through 10 years out of the country and then coming back and in some cases, initial hardships. our laws will allow anybody to come back. to put high standard together regarding evidence in order for somebody who has broken the law by being here illegally. able to come legally with their family. extreme hardship. it is the same. just tohould not wait have a decision by judge or a court. rich is calling from laredo, texas, this morning.

go ahead with your question. caller: my question is being i have been living here for 15 years. i have seen the issue of people coming across and setting up homes and families here in laredo, not going to the rest of the country. illegals obtain certain privileges like medical, going into emergency room's, completing the medical industry completely, they will have notes which and they have even paid into the system and the rest of the americans are being trained for. during our visit back in april, he said 30 thousand of his community are undocumented

families. yes, there is a high population of undocumented families. are paying taxes. some of them may have fraudulent isuments and another part what we gained from the work, people who have been here legally and they work your 30 years of their lives. if they get deported, they do not get social security. we have a problem with illegal immigration and also a problem with enforcement, but we are already spending $20 billion per year in enforcement. out andfficult to go say, do you have papers or do you not? have a community that it is

easier to blend in. we do not have a high crime rate compared to other cities. we want to vielma thank you for talking to our viewers. thank you. guest: a pleasure to be with you. host: washington journal will continue live from the southern border town of laredo, texas. we will turn our attention to the mexican side when we come ,ack with alfredo corchado author. there we get to conversation, we want to show you back in april, we were able to meet with all three divisions of u.s. customs and border protection and one of those is border patrol.

the agents that wear green. told us about the attempt i the mexican cartel daily to smuggle narcotics across the border. plusmajority of the 17,000 , our mexican nationalists, trying to make the entry into the united states. we see a number of people, 30% in south america. we see folks from guatemala and el salvador. we see folks from china and other areas of the world. confined to one area. >> how are they making the trip? >> most of the folks are totacting organizations

really finance their trips. anywhere from $1500 to $15,000, depending on how far they are coming and what types of techniques they are using. depending on where they're coming from, they take a significant price and it also depends on whether they expect to go into the united states. they will be transported into the united states and you will obviously pay a little more than just dropped off. ?> who is doing the smuggling >> most are criminals, folks who to dedicating their lives smuggling narcotics. what folks often do not understand is the people they think are just trying to do a humanitarian effort and are trying to help them, it is

actually part of a criminal enterprise. the only job is really to charge a quota or collect the prize they are willing to pay in order to get into the united states. and find themselves being exploited at every level of the whether at the recruitment level or the transportation level. we see young ladies being raped. kidnapped and extorted for more money. we are back to you were just listening to the chief of border patrol their. on your screen, is your map. border patrol, responsible for that area, that sector. it stretches all the way to san

antonio area. responsible for stopping illegal immigration into the country. we are alive from the border county of laredo. alfredo corchado, author of "midnight through mexico." you wrote the book about the ongoing drug wars, drug trafficking that divides your two countries. in newtill midnight mexico -- in mexico? i spent most of yesterday traveling along the u.s. mexican border, the texas border, and i continually asked myself that question. i arrived in laredo late last night. i looked to the mexican side of -- border and asked

compared to when i wrote the book, there is a lot more peace and prosperity in some regions of the country. unfortunately, we are right across the city. they say there is no guarantee from the government against the struck cartel's. there is no real freedom to move and often times, you have convoys leaving from the needior, people who military exports, or just themselves try to travel to the border. all the issues we talk about have not then resolved. there are many questions about what mexico is doing in the future. midnight.now if it is maybe it is 12:30.

clearly not done yet. host: what led to the darkness? guest: many factors led to darkness. one was in 2001 mexico for the arst time experienced government that came in and that led to a vacuum, a power vacuum cartelssically, drug who not often but they really operate one-on-one, corruption with federal authorities. became these cartels playthings not just of the drug trade, but if everything a government does. they took over police departments and newsrooms and city government. i would not go as far as to say mexico is a failed state. it is clearly not.

i think there are regions across mexico, where you can certainly say it is very close to the region. is a alfredo corchado correspondent for the dallas news as well, covering mexico and the two countries for many years. what do the cartels want? i always think of it as, it is not that it is different from starbucks. they want clients. they know there is a big demand for illegal drugs. consumption is huge. they want new markets. to be able to penetrate the united states and be in as many places -- there is a joke, the fedex model.

24 hours later, they are somewhere in the streets of new york, washington, dallas, and phoenix. they want to be able to continue to make a profit. host: how do they get it across? guest: corruption. i think mexico's biggest challenge of biggest problem is aside from building strong will of law institutions, the impunity rate in new mexico is more than 98%. it means if you kill someone or commit a murder or commit a crime, oftentimes, there is a 98% chance you will get away with it. to buy authorities to bring the struts in the united states. it is something we oftentimes .verlooked there are gangs and networks.

we are not talking about one major cartel. we are talking about cartels that are huge conglomerates. a vast network that people take the drugs to different cities throughout the world. in london, france, spain, italy, on and on. the united states were able to put up a wall where you are sitting now and across the southern texas order, with that stop it? stories inve done mexico. i remember clearly one time when i was at a bar in northern mexico when they were waiting for congress to debate and talk walls.uilding more i saw how smugglers were able to raise their glasses and salute

to the men and women back in congress and say you are helping us and making us much more profitable. anytime united states tries to make things tougher for immigrants, the only people who benefit from this are the smugglers themselves. people have to find new ways to as long as you have demand for labor, as long as you have the actual drug, you will have mexicans trying to get across. to is ag to remember is migration from south to north, historic lows. tell yourter, i can't the number of cities i visited, places like san diego, other philadelphia, california, washington, where people begin to ask me where are the mexicans? they're are not seeing as many mexicans coming across, so they are beginning to see a labor

shortage in parts of the united states. sunday, for all the talk of rapists and murderers coming across the border, i think willcan businessman seriously miss the mexican worker. host: good morning, go ahead. caller: i am calling to say mexico is playing the mess out of americans. the cartel runs our city now. they kill more people with their drugs than the terrorists will ever do. as you said, they are taking our jobs. my daughter last summer tried to get a job at mcdonald's. they are all taken up. she cannot even get a summer job. mexico is making a mess out of the united states? i think that is what he

said. he went on to say the cartels are controlling our town. u.s.hey controlling on the desperate showing on the u.s. side of the border? >> i would say they have a huge presence and they work hand-in-hand with american operatives, people who operate in the united dates. drugs do not magically appear on the u.s. side. withwork hand-in-hand americans or canadians. combination, cooperation to try to make sure they get across the united states. 2015 for number for border protection, this is the they reportedures

to worth about 170 $2 billion, a 49% increase over 2014. 153 pounds of marijuana, cocaine, and over 5000 pounds of methamphetamines. as well as heroine, 1000 pounds, 9 million in undeclared currency , firearms and over 7000 rounds of ammunition. that is what they were able to seize. how frequent is it happening on the border that those cartels are attempting to and succeeding in getting drugs across the border? >> we do not know. they say they only see so much and only so much gets across. we have been covering the border and we hear those numbers again. we hear something surprising.

people will tell you, the number -- marijuana going across the border is declining. it is so much better that they are moving marijuana to some cities like monterey and mexico city. demand on both sides of the border. it also tells me maybe the jug policy in the united states is not working and you have to also deal with consumers, you have to deal with demand. judge have to curse in the end, they are smart is this men looking to see what sells, what can they get across, who is consuming what, where are they consuming it, how do they get it there and they work hand-in-hand. host: maryland, sharon, it is your turn. good morning. are you with us? caller: good morning.

thank you for having me on. thatically wanted to say as an american born and raised, it truly should be some kind of immigration reform because i work with a lot of a diverse culture and i see how hard they work every day. the team has an mexicans come over and take stuff from us. i do not believe that is true. i think they literally cram up in an apartment. saving their money, going out there and buying the house, buying the stuff and whatever they need to buy. back and they say no, when in reality, they work for less than nothing.

if the shoe fits, wear it. if you feel that you do not judge people like that, then you do not have anything to worry about. i am telling you i am seeing as an american. guest: mexico is trying to do more to keep people in mexico. i often wonder, there is so much of the u.s. president throughout we talk about more peaceful and more prosperity throughout the country, you have people trying to do something, people who do not want to migrate in the united states. wonder why people can't foreign companies pay more wages so we do stay back in

and not go to the united states and not be humiliated by the u.s., whether it is lawmakers for those who feel they are taking their jobs away. i cannot tell you the number of times i've been to mexico where people say, the last thing i want to do is be separated from my family, especially now when the border is so tenuous as it is so difficult to come back and forth in the late 1980's and the late 1990's. you are not just dealing with the demand-side, mexican attitude throughout mexico. is much more dangerous when the cartel has taken over and many drug routes to get across, much more expensive to do that. i want to agree with sharon in

that often times, they are doing jobs that americans do not want to do and often times come you go to regions in the united states where there is a legitimate complaint that the job went south and people are making low wages compared to what they were making. host: we are talking with alfredo corchado joining us from laredo, texas. taking your phone calls this morning. a lot of construction going on. the bridges are being constructed. for: bridge one used to be passenger vehicles. they have made it now so it will be just for pedestrians and that is the work they are doing and that is a work you hear there. florida, good morning, go ahead. caller: good morning.

look at the facts. we know a lot of the border states are at ridiculous levels. say what you want about the jobs and people don't want to do it but as americans, we going to walmart and everywhere we go and most of our jobs are held by mexican-americans or undocumented mexicans. it is more of an economic issue. everyone wants to keep labeling it racist and that is not what it is. it is the fact that it is putting h amend us economic burden on the american taxpayer. , what isredo corchado the drive for message citizens to try and come here and risk passage to cross illegally into the country? better jobs and better

wages. if they are mexican-americans, they are paying taxes. many illegal immigrants and that paying taxes or they take money away from border security. i get it, it is a very difficult in the united states. people are asking where to this -- where do they come from? it is a fact of life. there is a lot of legal ,igration and places that again, traveling the border in many of these communities, 89% of the communities are made up yetesidence in mexico, and we are in some of the safest communities anywhere in the united states just on the u.s. side of the border. these are some of the safest communities.

if immigrants are taking over -- trying toates, cover the story and trying to listen to the questions with all the construction going on. we will muddle through. hosea in california. jose in california. caller: america is a rich country. why can't they pay people a decent wage. if they did that, they would not want to come over the border. why can't they do anything? are they power it -- powerless to protect the people getting killed at the border? why are they powerless against the cartels. is the mexican government week? no one mentions with the mexican government is doing for these people. that is a good point from

modesto. not just toquestion the mexican government but also again, companies pay her dwight do they pay such low wages? that will be more of an issue. there are places where they are building airplanes and computers. there are mexican high-tech areas here. question that keeps coming. as far as the corruption, that is the key. the corruption is so embedded into the system. it has been virtually impossible for the mexican government to try to take cartels on. it is a war within the government. the corruption is so deep within the government, that both sides are worrying one-on-one inside,

you know you, you talk about what does this cartel the want to or who is helping them? it is often times people higher up in the government. the good news for me is i also see the best of mexicans, people who continue to believe in a better mexico, people who are creating societies to i've had to keep the government accountable and hold it accountable. , butll not be a quick fix it is something that we are beginning to see the effects. city,s the most dangerous some say around the world. crime hasty where come down and you see a greater role and members of the societies playing a role, trying to hold people accountable.

host: mike next in pittsburgh. good morning. i think a lot of people have misdirected anger. most american people are just upset about the state of our own economy. ultimately, we need to have better relationships with some kind of stable mexican government if we could ever move forward. host: ok. what are our relations like, diplomatic, i guess? between the united states and mexico? caller: -- guest: i think if you talk to both sides, they will put on a smile and say cooperation, cooperation. aalso think there is a bit of cooperation and the current

, promise a lot of reforms. he pushed a lot of reforms across. the questions about some of the kidnapping, murder said 43 all of that hurts the narrative the president is trying to make. that has really hurt him, members of the administration. it is that much more yesterday. hip.re tied at the share a 2000 mile border. you cannot make mexico disappear. you have to work together to make mexico a more profit -- prosperous and safer place. that will help not just the u.s.

but the entire north america. a more vibrant region. just like in the border. it is something that has to move beyond the border. people can talk about trade and , we are in laredo seeing a lot of jobs. i have also been to michigan and you see the impact. i do not think they have really found the sweet spot of both countries. when we were in texas back in april, we spoke with a democrat there about the community. he said it is safe in the town of laredo and it is a misperception that the border towns are not. >> a lot of people think the border is not safe. and there are a lot of statistics to show that. on the mexican side, there are

security issues. careful wheno be we cross. it depends when. the border normally is not as safe as other parts of mexico. like anything else, we need to ask. in youris happening sister town, as it has been called? >> it is said to say, but there is cartel activity. well.ing activity as it appears the rule of law has and to a major extent, frankly, the laws are not necessarily enforced and it is difficult to determine who is the guy and who is the bad guy, so to speak. host: we are live from laredo,

texas. alfredo corchado is joining us from the pedestrian bridge in texas, right across the river is mexico. the mayor talk about the cartel. we talk about the jugs. the smuggling of humans, why have the cartels moved? during the height of the central american crisis -- and that crisis has not left. it is still there, still a lot comingg americans through texas and increasingly through arizona and even california. we saw how in parts of texas, some cartels were focus a lot more than they were, smuggling people, young children, then they were with drugs.

it is all about profit. a cartels became that much more powerful in the early over all of took the smuggling routes. it used to be when i was a kid growing up, we knew who the smuggler was. a neighbor orly who knew someone. there was a family connection. a sense of trust. nowadays, when people cross the often, individuals too lead to disastrous consequences. the smuggler's head essentially taken over the route from -- crossre the ones who people into the united states. often times, not just -- the human toll. good morning, an immigrant. caller: we have to also look to

place the blame for corporations because they want to make profits. we decide to play mexico. it is not the mexican's fault. they are just trying to eat like people who came from europe. research's it more and place the brett -- place the blame properly. thanks. host: ok p are good morning. caller: good morning, c-span. you are great. i want to ask his opinion of legalizing say just marijuana. what would that do to the power of the cartels? training their money. guest: i think we have already seen that. and otheregalized

states legalized marijuana. an impact in the sense that there are more people now focused on even cocaine, i think cocaine is making a comeback. -- you live ingo a country where the rule of law is so weak, impunity is so high, they will find the weeks of -- the weak spot and take advantage of that. if they decided the mexicans were illegal, i would say been cookies because they are making america to obese or something like that, they will smuggle them across. anything they can get away with an companies that are weak institutions, they will try. when hot --ed in pockets of colorado make their way across the border, the other

, kidnappings and extortions. criminal organizations and reaches just like the one right across new mexico, whatever. the mayor was saying earlier, , looking at a poll some key issues like security. every community we visit along the border talks about how safe their community is. it is backed up by facts. some of the safest communities along the border and some of the most troubling communities on

the new mexican side. good morning, nancy, california. caller: claimant for a while that laredo is a safe place. , one of themhe cia says it is a lie and the other one says misleading at best. as far as coming here for a better life, that is not true. 72% of them are on welfare. destroyedcompletely the opportunity and development. the unemployment is over 50%. they are sending them over here for the world bank and honest economist. the economy would collapse if they do not have the people -- sending money back there. second-highest source of revenue.

host: we believe it at that. guest: -- host: we will leave it at that. guest: there was some mexican human rights activist and democratic activist who talked building a wall to keep mexicans in mexico so they could a betterhelp hold country. that has been talked about before. there is not much i can say other than what i repeated earlier. i think a lot of mexicans would rather stay in mexico and tried a living there. if both sides made sure wages were higher and people could , thelly make a living mexicans i talked to him that i know in the united states, yes. you have some very hard-working people who are trying to make a living by leaving mexico behind

and try to help their children make a better life. case.as the case in my host: ok, go ahead. caller: thank you. the problem here are ethics and morals. the problem with white, euro americans is greed. greed is number one. and you stop the problem. mexicans come here to work. that is all it is. we will hear from michael in texas. good morning. caller: i just want to talk command in the united

.tates we have got to make country happy to live in their skin otherwise the cartel will keep going. host: illinois, good morning. caller: good morning. when i was a kid in illinois, i had to fight to work because the mexicans were blessed in, given in, given aussed place to stay. i was grateful to get that job. i could get on because of all of the immigrants that were buss ed in. today, my kids are home builders.

their jobs are down and it is because of the illegals that are here. guest: you hear that story often times. i hope we get a hold of libya at some point. anecdotes that somewhere mexicans that came here, because there is demand. both types of stories, obviously, the jones would like to know a lot more. if they could, if given the chance, more mexicans would stay in mexico and that is what we're seeing now. saying -- buses are leaving empty. people have said enough, we have -- we are being humiliated.

it is that much more difficult to get across and more dangerous to get across and it is not worth it. there will come a day when americans will ask what happens to the country. they need new blood, they are not here. where did america turn to? chuck in virginia, good morning. you are on the air. these people coming over one hard work was being done, they keep talking for theey want to come better life of their children. people over here, whatever happened to all those children in the middle east? the illegal immigration business , fighting illegal immigration?

i do not know how to answer that question. i mean i can -- again, i can talk about my personal story. she was able to sacrifice everything she loved to give a better life. i think we have done well. for millions of families, who lived on the same thing, who have contributed to the success of the united dates. most of the stories i hear are andt people contributing loving the united states and loving new mexico and being able to find a place that they can improve. one thing why it is fascinating to be on the border is you talk to people because they have seen what they have done on the other

side of the border. the governmentf and a help of the system that worked and laws that work and the rules that work, institutions that work, they have been able to build strong communities on the border. it is some of the most impoverished communities because of low wages, because of education issues. brush mexicans in general as taking everybody's jobs and doing these things, i think that is a generalization. diane, good morning to you. caller: i am calling because i wanted to comment about the jobs . i think america -- americans are for a rude awakening. here,xicans come over there is nothing but mexicans

there on the job. they tell you if you do not sit -- getting hit on the job, they havens feel like something taken away. host: that is diane's's opinion. jeff, what do you think about immigration in the country? illegal immigrants coming in from mexico are putting a multimillion dollar burden on our health care system. ,o to the l.a. county hospital the memorial hospital, the county hospital in ucla torrance, uc irvine, and any emergency hospital in america, they get free health care and americans go to mexico.

they do not get free health care. they get put in jail. in mexico,illegal you will get harassed, you get a full run around. host: respond to that last part of what he had to say. guest: i missed the last part. host: he was saying if you are an american a you going to mexico illegally, you have to pay bribes, you get harassed. well, unfortunately, that is true. biggest, the sadness i hear from americans is they cannot travel really throughout the country because you have to pay so many brides. a lot of americans come to mexico because of easy health care.

they say it will keep americans from coming in and taking advantage of the health care and education system. you talk to americans and they say, this is the best health care in the world. it is very affordable and very cheap. a bigger of arrival of americans -- host: tourism, it happens right over your shoulder. guest: it is a big business in. -- business. exactly. some of the areas, it is really the way to go for them. and incredible job of luring people to come across. host: california, good morning. first of all, i am not

against people coming here. i think they should be allowed to and they should do it the right way. have a mexico should minimum wage. i do not blame them. there are no jobs here. they need them wage. host: ok p are we are short on time. guest: they do have a minimum wage. four dollars or five dollars a day depending fluctuation. that is really low. week.$70 per there are entire families who live up to that. i think it is a question of corporations making that commitment to try to pay up, to try to help mexico's wages so

people do not have to move. you see less people dreaming of migrating. i'm goinglk about was to get to the united states. you do not hear those stories anymore. people want to stay in mexico and make a living but they want their own government, the mexican government, to be able to help them realize their dreams. they want the u.s. government and u.s. residents, u.s. citizens, the world, to help get the house together. i was thinking, it has much more of an impact, if people outside ofnew mexico, instead pointing the finger at a corrupt company, they take action and try to help mexicans build the country.

pressure the authorities to find solutions and find justice for their own people. caller: could he explain what all of these nationalistic that want the europeans out of the south west, when he talks about helping mexico, they have been around longer than texas. why don't they become a little more like texas? host: ok. back in the 1960's and 1970's, it was at one point a to retain what mexico lost in the united states.

it is a movement that is not that relevant in today's conversation. the poll we are doing, we are talking about one community where people feel as much a part of mexico as they do the united states and vice versa. see their really futures are dependent on one another in order to succeed and prosper. rick is in texas, good morning. caller: thank you. i have a comment. it is simply this. my wife came here in the country legally not just to get a better life, because if you want to, as everyone knows, you should fight for your rights and they believe mexico's where they want to be, fight for the rights, as the forefathers have done here as

american citizens do here. did here legally as my wife , work hard, earn your citizenship, and work in the nation to become a better citizen and help others become better citizens. jim in florida, good morning to you. are you there? arizona.to bob in i used to offload work in mexico. when i was down there, the u.s. bussed people in prayer you go down to tijuana and you do not just see americans but from all over the world. the trouble is it is so low they cannot afford to buy a car. out, they did not

want to come to america. phd's.s had blaminged we should be corporations. host: can you take that point? i talked about that earlier. it is not just to blame the mexicans, but really just the to pony up more, to pay more and put it bluntly. a point. caller made mexicans need to do the data their own thing. on the bloodshed we see in mexico is people coming together from all walks of life, the business corporations who are together building a civil

society to hold the government accountable. there is a piece of legislation being debated now to force legislators to disclose conflict of interest and how much they pay, to try to hold them and be much more responsive. host: howard, illinois, you are on the air. alfredo, i am a researcher in diction. you are a brave man. has anyone tried to kill you? it is too early in the morning to talk about death threats. that is what led to "midnight in mexico," recounting an incident where a powerful -- right across the border here in laredo

believed i was giving too much information or was too close for comfort. threat -- three names came up and i was one of them. temporarily leave mexico for a time and let me write my book. it is very important to say, compared with my situation, i was able to leave mexico and find protection. as a u.s. citizen, i have the protection my colleagues do not have. right across the border, colleagues will openly self-centered -- self censor themselves. decided to not say anything or do anything. i am not braver or more courageous.

think i have more protection and i try to take advantage of that. educate.ue to try to host: you can read reporting if you go to the dallas news website. charleston, s.c., a native, good morning. caller: good morning. guest: good morning. say i: i was calling to was raised in laredo, texas. my entire family still lives there. guest: it is a beautiful city. caller: it is beautiful and i was just there in 2014 to visit my family. about all of these comments that it is mexicans, it is not just mexicans. here in south carolina, a professional spanish interpreter, a lot of the

families are from the honduras, andemala, they come here they speak dialects, which i am not familiar with. but this is what i do as a professional interpreter. i wish they would stop saying mexicans, because it is not just mexicans. everybody. it is not just latin countries, but other countries. everyone wants to come to the united states for the american dream. cuban's right there at the border, they are seeing a big uptick in the amount of cubans traveling through mexico on the way to the united states. guest: right. we are seeing different parts of the border. it is always one region. area.o has become a big

it is never-ending. it is always the gateway to a better life. they reinvent people and i think that is what a lot continue to do. is is my colleagues that presidential campaign time. .ou see the phone numbers go up i am not surprised that once again, the border becomes that of often times miscommunication and misunderstandings. my pause to c-span for dedicating and educating about john --er for those who do not know about the region. it is a region i feel is isolated and misunderstood that also a region, a lot of people love the border. i am a border resident and i

the border has defined me in better ways, it has made me a bilingual person. helpe my reporting can become a bridge between two countries to try to educate both sides. that on then find dow's website and the book, "midnight in mexico." thank you for joining us live there from laredo, texas. guest: my pleasure. thank you very much. host: we will continue to be like tomorrow from laredo, texas. we will be at the world trade crosswere 6000 trucks every day to come to the united states. antoniotalk to the san trade reporter. and bob, the state director for

the texas fair trade coalition, about the north american free trade agreement. naftarea often called it is often called. that does it for today's washington journal. we want to thank the city of laredo. the mayor's office and the construction workers who stopped working for us. and also the u.s. customs and operation here in washington and in the radio. toy helpful for c-span, allow us to go there and bring from laredo so that you can get perspective on the ground in a border town. i want to thank all of our guests for joining us. we now bring you to the heritage foundation where they are discussing u.k. membership in the eu and the global implications of the referendum.