att: recently, when we were laredo, texas, we talked with people at the border patrol, the agents that are outside of ports of entry they're responsible for everything in between and going into the interior of the country. we also spoke with the air and marine officer. with the portsn of entry folks, this is what say aboutloria had to the uptake in undocumented people who are coming to the border and trying to flee violence in their country. [video clip] seeing an increase,

specifically from ethiopia and somalia. we have seen a spike in that the last couple of years. they have been arriving in san diego. it was a large population of somalis there. they arrive at the port of entry , laming fear to return to their country or to mexico. we are also seeing an increase of [indiscernible] reporter: when they claim fear from those countries commode happens? >> they get processed for expedited removal. reporter: is that the same policy for mexican citizens? >> yes. it is the same procedure, regardless of what country you're coming from. either to yourd country or to mexico to be

processed. [indiscernible] reporter: unless you are a minor or unless you are from cuba. >> yes. if you are from cuba, you arrive at the port of entry and you are processed for the cuban [indiscernible] reporter: and that allows him to be detained in the united states. >> there is no detention. host: that was during our recent visit to the border town of laredo, texas, talking to u.s. customs and border protection. we are back there live this morning to talk to folks about what it is like in the border towns. on immigration this morning. tomorrow, we will be talking about trade. we are kicking off the conversation with all of you. maria, an immigrant in pennsylvania, where did you come from?

the philippines. states ise united stronger because of legal immigrants. most immigrants are hard-working people. they come here to the united states to work because there is opportunity here. so the united states really is a wonderful place for immigrants. the line that you see cross mexico into the united states is the same line come a long line in the philippines. at the american embassy. because everyone wants to come to the united states. host: why do you think that is? caller: because the united states is really known to -- it is a rich country. you have a lot of opportunities here. i think the united states will be stronger if we have legal immigrants. have acourse, if you

large group of people, you can't avoid having a small amount of , you know, not good people. criminals,e who are people who will rob or kill other people. so the united states has to be very -- you should screen people who are coming in. host: what about what you just heard from u.s. customs and border protection, that they are notng a rise in people from just mexico, but all over the world who are coming to the border, claiming fear that there is violence in their country and they want to get out and they want to come to the united states? or if you are from mexico central america or one of these african countries, you are detained and sent back. but if you are from cuba, where relations are fine under this administration, then under the

cuban adjustment act, you get in the line. you get to start the process of becoming a u.s. citizen so that law, youa cold war era are not sent back to a communist country. what do you think about the distinction? caller: i think the united states -- it depends on what country you come from. it depends on what is the news today. maybe even people from the middle east would have more preference then pop -- that probably people for mexico, because they are try to help them avoid the war that is going on in the middle east. maria, they have seen syrians also coming to the border right there in southern texas. here is a headline recently from "houston chronicle."

they have seen and uptake of the number of cubans coming in at bridge 1, where we are this morning coming to you. cuban nationals coming to the port of entry right there. and showing that they are cuban nationals and starting the process to become a u.s. citizen. new york, stronger or weaker? caller: it makes it stronger of the country is growing. at this point, the country isn't growing. there are too many illegal immigrants putting a drain on the country. controle, they should the amount of people they let in the country so the legal --igrants could have a good a good life, which they don't have right now because there are too many illegal immigrants putting a strain on the monetary system right now. host: ok. caller: because we have to

provide health -- they have -- they are not really paying taxes. i mean, you are losing a lot of money on these people. .ost: ok ray in raleigh, north carolina, what do you think this morning? caller: i'm totally against illegal immigration. as an african-american in this country, i'm so tired that they always talk about when it's time of theitics the plight african american male and female in america. but you it is against all these people are -- people from different countries. everybody says they do jobs we don't want to do. i could be in the yard on my knees digging and they will put a flyer in the mailbox right in front of me. that is very insulting. you have to look at this also. when we bring people from other here or just to make money -- as african-americans, we are separated from everybody. they do not hire us.

we bring people from syria and all these countries, giving them jobs, but african-americans, they don't hire us. host: ok. ray, listen to what the mayor had to say, what he told us back in april about the undocumented population right there in laredo, texas. [video clip] with 30% of 40% of people who actually live here laredo, texas undocumented.re 30,000 to 40,000, possibly more have settled here in laredo texas. they are pretty much a part of our communities now. and have born children there is a mixture of parents, grandparents and children and that sort of thing. and they got families here in the u.s..

not in laredo in particular, but other parts as well. we are alive this mine from loretta, texas, getting your thoughts on whether immigration makes the u.s. stronger or weaker and coming up, we will begin with our guests from this location. we are going to talk with a local reporter from breitbart texas. we will talk with an immigration lawyer. -- we will talk with a mexican corresponded about what is happening right there on the border with mexico. what separates this town from its sister town of label a radio nuevo laredo is the rio grande. host: what do you think? caller: i think it stronger.

unfortunately, they use undocumented migrants as scapegoats. it is really the corporations that make all the money. it is the corporations that have not giving a wage -- have not given a wage increase in the last 30 years. they have run to other countries, third world countries for environmental protection, so they can get away from it -- get away with it. it is the corporations from wall fleeced american people, the middle class, just all from them. unfortunately, the undocumented are the scapegoats. they are the least capable of doing anything to anyone. and they are here to make a buck like anyone else. that is the american spirit, to go out there and make a buck. and they work hard. and people say, well, they're taking my job. well, that's ridiculous. it is the cheaper person that is always good to get the job because that is the american spirit.

who's going to be cheaper and how are we going to get that cheaper labor? so anytime there is a crisis in america, they blame the undocumented because that is the easiest scapegoat. but the corporations are the ones who are getting all this money. and there is no restraint of any kind. there is no capping, no regulation. as a matter of fact, republicans, like donald trump, they will deregulate. and a free market, which is greed, will go and take what you can from everybody and fleeced them. and that is donald trump's candidacy. host: ok. "but houston chronicle" had a story. texas once welcome, even recruited immigrants. chronicle" reports that come in 1869, the texas constitution included a provision for a special agency with the purpose of promoting and protecting immigration into the state.

host: let's go to bob in nebraska. weaker?ion, stronger or caller: i think it is stronger. by the way, thank you for being in laredo. beautiful. know, you knowo

-- it has brought a ton of .rowth to texas a lot of republicans in texas don't want to deal with it, but it's very factual. plantse trying to build here in nebraska, but they can't build plants are some things because local communities don't want immigrants in these communities. cutting down huge amounts of investment because of it. so thank you, c-span. show me more pictures of laredo. all right, bob, will do. cnbc had another story about what you are talking about, bob. the mcallen, texas region is a , roughlyce to start 81000 and growing. . the factories and enjoyed and produce export

goods, a legacy of the north american free trade agreement. we talked to local environmental groups about that in april. i first came to laredo 35 years ago, the reports on a daily basis were, well, the water quality is really, really bad. it is not only the results of things happening in mexico, but things happening in the united states. i was sister city across the river was putting in somewhere on the order of 25 million gallons of raw sewage a day into the river. today, still about 6 million gallons of raw sewage coming in from nuevo laredo. some of that is coming in from a different point than it was 20 years ago. development has taken place on the new mexican side of the

river toward the world bridge. why don't you fix it? everybody knows the answer -- it is money. we don't have the funds to fix it. that environmental group talking about the impact of trade and the factories that have gone over to the mexican side, the environmental impact of that. liverow, we continue to be from laredo texas at the world trade bridge in laredo. will talk about the 6000-8 thousand commercial trucks that cross over the border right in this border town. 6000-8000 commercial trucks. gary in sour lake. caller: sour lake is 90 miles

filesf houston, about 40 west of the louisiana border. in the piney woods of southeast texas. we see a lot of immigrants here. the problem we are having is it is going to weaken our country eventually due to the fact if you think back when the slaves were brought in from africa, the chinese were brought in to build railroads, a lot of those people were mass murdered. strictly for wages, so they could weaken the middle class that is already here. those people cannot do anything, they could not defend themselves, they had no rights. arizona, new mexico and

, you had republican governors for decades and have never done anything about it. they whine the most and do the least. host: steve in chesapeake, virginia. an immigrant. tell us your story. 1982 as acame here in legal immigrant. immigration in germany. i met my wife who was here on a student visa. , wenterstayed her visa back to her country and had to for an immigrant visa. i think immigration makes this country stronger.

this country needs to be able to limitl its borders and , go afterimmigration the employers, hit them with theirfines and revoked licenses and permits and they will be able to control immigration. the big corporations want cheap labor, semi-slave labor. host: margaret in texas. morning -- caller: good morning. i'm 60 miles northwest of san antonio.

to robert who spoke very eloquently about the virtues of immigrants and the fellow from nebraska -- i'm 88 years old. i taught history. i'm a retired professor now. , the country has prospered from waves of immigration. people need to realize that we live in a different world now. the economy in the last 50 years has trained -- changed dramatically. instead of blaming the immigrants for a lack of jobs, people need to look at the changes in the economy and what they need to do and their children need to do to prosper.

something robert did not mention -- they are building a wall between us and mexico, there's lots of small ranches in mexico on the border come on the rio 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 appr a number of people who worked with human trafficking victims approximate and said they were having a difficult time getting the fbi or any law enforcement agency to help trafficking victims in the u.s. i got involved in that. i turned my home into a shelter for human trafficking victims. that is something the late andrew breitbart helped me to t do. what matters here is to work again to counter human , counterng efforts human trafficking criminals, and help the victims. one of the things that i started to notice is that most of the people i was hoping did not speak english. most of the people i was helping were victims because of our open border.

that is what actually brought me to focusing on the criminal organizations that she specifically texas -- the gulf cartel and the zetas. do i work with them now? no, i'm officially a journalist. there's actually a number of legal reasons why i cannot work with them. do i cooperate with law enforcement in my effort to go after mexican cartels and support victims of those cartels? 100%. this is one of the problems when it comes to activism around the border or activism for human trafficking victims. it requires that you have a relationship with law-enforcement agencies -- not only local and county, but state and also federal. you cannot really help human trafficking victims. even people who are victims, they cannot legally stay and testify unless they work with to enforcement oftentimes

help to put the bad people away who are exploiting them. that is what actually brought me to what i do now. host: we will hear from denise next in raleigh, north carolina. caller: i have a couple things to say and then a question. now, i'm an american citizen. my parents were here. my grandparents were all americans. i want one thing clarified. againsterican, i am not illegal legal immigration. i am 73. 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. others ind i'm sure

have spoken to, are against this people coming in on a work visa and never going home. at that point, they become illegal. host: and a niece, your question? caller: one other thing -- drugs are killing our young people across america. is toderal government 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 the constitution and laws that have been put in place to keep

america safe? host: ok, mr. darby? guest: well, first off, i think that is great. i think most people are in favor of legal immigration. i have not found any who are not. i agree with the caller. most people are in favor of legal immigration. i think that our current system encourages illegal immigration and i think that illegal immigration fuels systems of oppression in mexico and i think that is bad. we are not only hurting ourselves, but we are hurting people in mexico who do not have the ability to defend themselves. that said, it is very easy for people to be upset and angry at the people who come here illegally, but i actually am not. what i get upset at are the politicians who encourage it and

know that we are in a situation where so many women are being sexually assaulted, so many children coming from central mexico being assaulted and they allow this to be continued. i do not blame the republicans for not wanting comprehensive immigration reform with the gang of eight. i do not just blame the democrats. i blame both parties for that when it comes to holding them accountable. both parties know that there are ways that we can do something to address the current system. both parties make every effort to continue to allow it to be a wedge issue to benefit them politically. mentioned caller drugs coming into the country. according to the u.s. customs border protection, in fiscal 2016, this is the amount of drugs for quarterly results of the laredo sector of what cbp seized at the border for different drugs and the amount.

baton rouge, louisiana. you're on the air. caller: to things will quick. if immigration was so wonderful, why doesn't mexico allow immigration from its southern border instead of killing hundreds of central americans each year? you can stopnt is 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 southern border to keep all illegal aliens out of the country. host: are right, brandon darby. guest: i'm going to address that call and the numbers that you just put up on the screen about

the amount of drugs and the laredo sector. they are lying and being dishonest and i'm going to tell you what. they are being dishonest because they do not know. i spend more time in the sector than any of the other nine sectors together. what i take his politicians, political leaders, people who have a voice and power to do something, i take them to the sector unannounced and i showed them stuff. here's what the problem is. the problem is if we were to go several miles right now east of us on the river, there's an area chacon creek. i took video. ,ost: we can show it brandon, while you're talking. great.uest: to of those workers were

smugglers and the other two were presumably here to work, but two of them were not. , i had tooccurred drive around for 30 minutes on the border before i found a border patrol agent or any law enforcement whatsoever. they do not have enough people assigned. if they do have enough people, they sure did not have them assigned appropriately. there are vast laws, especially in laredo. that is why laredo is so interesting. unlike el paso, they do not have agents assigned every so often. there are very few agents assigned. less cameras are here. when cameras and media are here, they sent up an attempt to do it. i challenge anyone to go with me right now or tonight in the middle of the night. you are not going to find any agents of the. likegents say they do not to go there because they go alone and they are attacked. we put out a report two months ago in laredo about father make

cnobel park. they had a problem with drug smugglers running through this children's part nobody did anything. a city councilmember, by the way who is democrat, that he contacted us and he gave us pictures of during the kid sports game but these smugglers ran drugs through the football field at the half yard line. only after a lot of media pressure did the city of laredo or the county actually put someone there to monitor the area. that was after months of officials complaining and residents complaining about it and nothing happened. that is what we are dealing with. we are really dealing with a situation with a lot of misinformation. there's a lot of misinformation from the right about what goes on at the border. there's a lot of misinformation from the left. the people in these communities

-- oftentimes, political leaders have economic reasons to continue to use the uniform crime reports, which the fbi director said to a several month on record are not representative of cross-border crime. they continue to use that outdated system. they continue to point to a couple of cities like el paso and say, look, the borders safe. withoutel paso acknowledging that el paso has a level of security than other cities in texas have. we are at a major problem here is the biggest problem is the lack of accurate information. even "the texas tribune" here in texas. they were asking for $200,000 to report on border issues. they only report on border issues that produce a specific narrative. we produce a report about the honduran girl that two smugglers attempted to rape a month and

a half ago. her mother fought the smugglers and stop them from raping her little girl. she got brutally beaten and the border patrol agents went on record about it. were the only statewide agency in the state of texas who reported it. no one else chose to report that issue. this is a problem that we are having with misinformation from both sides really. you have one side claiming there is isis terrace on the border, which i do not believe there are at the time. you have another site purposefully diminishing and not reporting on things that make people concern about how open our border is. host: if our viewers want to learn more about your reporting at breitbart texas, they can go to breitbart.com/texas. brandon darby, thank you for your time this morning. guest: thank you. continueare going to to live from laredo, texas this

morning. coming up, we are going to be talking about immigration laws. we are in laredo, texas, which as you heard from brandon darby is right across from mexico and is a sister city of nuevo laredo. we will turn our attention to immigration laws on the book. she is an immigration lawyer specializing in deportation love law. then we talk about the author of "midnight in mexico." it's about the violence of cartels on the other side of the border and the politics of immigration as well. there,e get situated we will remind you that "washington journal" will be live from this border town tomorrow to talk about trade and how it has been number one port, crossing about 3 million trucks in 2015 to of value of $166

billion an in imports. back in april, we talk to u.s. customs and border protection about the flow and volume of commercial trucking in laredo, what some call nafta on wheels. take a listen to what they told us. [video clip] fieldoughout the laredo office, $166 billion in goods imported in fiscal year 15, over 3 million commercial conveyances. here at the laredo port of entry alone, there are over 2 million trucks, $115 billion in trade. that translates to a little over 6000 trucks a day coming through this. ships make it here to the compound. we risk assessment and determine what needs to be examined. the shipment is released.

after the shipment is released, our job has not ended. we still continue to look at paperwork after the fact, post-entry review, to make sure that we are collecting all the proper revenue and making sure that goods are in compliance with rules and regulations. these are laws and regulations for other agencies. last year, $271 million to these correctors. >> our user fees different? andhey are separate funds that goes to the master of commands. -- of conveyance. that goes to our general fund that helps to pay and offset the cost of our exams and otherwise our operations. >> and the duties go to the treasury? -- to the correct

general coffers. host: we are back. looking at the world trade bridge were 6000 to 8000 trucks cross a day. makesial trucking up trucking across the country here at the world trade bridge in laredo, texas. we will be there to talk about trade and the north american free trade agreement. lynnill talk with kyn llar,sky, henry cue and bob cash. "washington journal" live from laredo tomorrow. take a look at the numbers of cross-border trade. inillion commercial trucks 2015. 56 million passengers and

pedestrians. 20.3 million vehicles and about 72,000 buses all processed by port officials there with u.s. customs and border protection at the eight port in the laredo area. we are now back at bridge one this morning with local immigration lawyer nelly vi elma to continue our conversation on immigration. aboutoes the u.s. law say illegal immigration in this country? when is it illegal? guest: good morning, greta. it is a legal when it -- illegal when it is not done by the proper channels. because of a broken system and the need for copperheads of illegalion, the is immigration numbers have been climbing for years.

in 2001, there was a seven-year waiting time. if you are a legal and permanent resident and you have minor children, you had to wait seven years to bring them to this country. unfortunately a lot of people cannot be separated for so long. as those are part of the issues that have created this illegal immigration as well. and thatto get reforms is one of the parts that congress has to be looking at in order to fix this problem . host: who is trying to cross the border illegally? guest: the people that are trying to cross illegally are usually coming here because they are fleeing country conditions. poverty, violence, rape, seeking asylum from persecution due to their faith, or their nationality. we see a lot of different people at the border, like i mentioned.

they are either seeking asylum are looking for a better way of living and come seeking jobs. one of the issues that we have a supply and demand. our immigration laws have started from the need of the u.s. to have employees and sometimes under very low wages and conditions. it all started with the chinese when we started to build railroads. once we started to get rid of them, that is when immigration law started. we recruited agricultural workers. on thearted deporting mexicans because that was cheaper than sending back boats.ans on both good dow down the line, immigration has been a source of supply and demand. i was reading about katrina recently. the katrina cleanup effort was primarily undertaken by a lot of hispanics.

the census in new orleans shows that over 100,000 hispanics came to new orleans with help for rebuilding efforts. tulane university and loyola university have made studies into how they were working under hazardous conditions, unsafe conditions, and some of them have not been paid to this day -- 10 years after katrina or more. there were people like halliburton that got contracts from the federal government and the department of justice. the department of defense as well. these workers were cleaning up our air force bases and they have not gotten paid yet. advantage,d take contractors would take advantage. once they had finished the job and had done rebuilding, they said i will not pay you and call immigration on you or the police. to this date, there have been filing under the federal labor standards act in order for you

to be paid. some of these workers worked 14 hour shifts. it is a shame that to this day that we have not paid some of them. basically it has a lot to do with supply and demand. if they are not hiring illegally, they will put a stop to it. we are going to seek the laws that are going to help people be able to stay here. a lot of people come through immigration routes such as the professional leavvisas, creating jobs for the community. we have 40% of fortune 500 companies that were created and started by immigrant entrepreneurs. we have a lot of people that come through proper legal channels and the north of american free trade agreement -- nor the mac agreement has pitted a lot of professionals. it is helping to build the

economy and bring more jobs and it is a shame what is happening right now with the loss of family retention. it takes us back to the concentration camps of world war ii. we were doing a protest at a facility in protest of 200-4000 women and children. we are shame to see that still treating them as we did back in world war ii and concentration camps pretty much. people are entitled to do process. our country was built by immigrants for immigrants. we are spending over $20 billion a year and just enforcement. through this enforcement, we are departing over 430,000 people. there are laws already in effect. we are spending too much on detention facilities because we have a quota of 34,000 people per day that have to be detained in order for the budget approved by congress.

that needs to be repealed. the cuban adjustment act of 1966 -- over 100,000 cubans have crossed within the last two years, seeking asylum with the u.s.. this is so easy for cubans to do that and they are entitled to federal benefits -- food and housing and even $1800 a year from settlements. this is something that should be repealed and i know that henry cuellar has initiated in congress this rule. it is difficult to see that people still are working under the communist regime of the 1966 act. if this was repealed, we would be able to help workers that actually need it, people who are fleeing because of violence in the country, because of rape. that is where the efforts should be for resettlement and refugees at this time.

host: who gets deported and who gets to stay? guest: who gets deported -- any criminal, any felon, anybody who has a history. it goes through the due process of the court's. a lot of times what we see is also this question by border patrol. 70% increase in lack of due process, which means that expedited removal and reinstatement where people do not get to see a judge, that has led to increase in deportation more recently. the rest of the people, if they have due process and get to see a judge, the judge will determine based on our laws, following the laws that we have established for immigration and regulation, who gets to stay. if you have a criminal record, if you are a felon, you're not going to be able to stay in the country. that is not what the law want and what we want as a country. or youhave some hardship

have merits as a citizen, you have behaved under our law. you are able to stay if you qualify. not everybody gets to stay, for example. these should be in the country at least 10 years and have ,elatives, a u.s. citizen spouse or child, that is going to encounter hardship. those are very high standards of law that we have currently to prove before court for a person to stay. it is not easy to try to stay in the country. there are very few resources for people that are going to be able to remain. what is even more disturbing is other people, for example, that have legal permanent residents for years. the ex post facto laws do not apply. they can backtrack and say that when you were 17, you are stealing some jeans, and now you

are deportable because our laws changed. they are retroactively apply to you. that our laws allow for that. it is a difficult situation when you have to go before an immigration judge and its all on the line of discretion. laws provide some discretion, but they are very narrow. vielma taking your questions and your comments about immigration laws on the books. jackson, tennessee, you're up first. caller: to me, the whole problem is just the injustice and agreed and the insane war on drugs. from -- aetter here letter to the un. " humankind cannot afford a 21st

century drug policy that as an effective as other centuries." the united states has the best neighbors you could hope for. canadians and mi mexicans and oceans. to me, the whole private prison industry want to house these mothers and children. to me, it's a disgrace. all this legal and illegal immigration -- like everybody said, we are a nation of immigrants. it's insane that we are locking all these people up. you have the breitbart guy on their talking about all the drugs. if they were legal, the drug cartels -- their money would be cut in half. i do not know the exact numbers, but it's insane to me that we keep this war on some drugs going and our immigration policies. host: can i ask you -- and but do to that caller, the laws on the books say that law enforcement in this country

has to detain these women and children? i mean, they are coming here in very large numbers from central america. what are they supposed to do? what does the law say? guest: greta, correct. they are detaining them, but there are alternatives to detention. there are ways where people can report to immigration offices. there are also now electronic monitoring. this would be a more humane way of treating immigrants that are coming here for refuge, coming here for asylum. as a nation of immigrants, we have told other nations to please open your other doors to these refugees, yet we cannot open it to our neighbors in the south. we have the best neighbors. like iust reading up mentioned with katrina that the mexican government sent to fleets of soldiers to come help with the efforts because mexico has undergone emergency, so they

have come to help us and send food and supplies. that is not the treatment that you want to give somebody that is your neighbor. you do not want to shut the door because they cannot come in at this time. i agree -- the supply and demand. there are no permanent laws to address the drug issue. there is no possible way that you can control that at the border as well. and has a lot to do with immigrants and performs and -- it has a lot to do with immigrants and reforms and it is shameful that we did not learn our lesson from world war ii and we still have concentration camps here in texas. 200-4000 women and children who are basically in jail. i went to one of the marches last year and when the people was saying that she was trying to apply upstate and the guard

took away the paper airplane. their time to make them into a childcare facility, but it is a big gap in trying to say it is one to be a childcare facility. i hope the nation conceived that can see that this is not the treatment that people coming in and seeking refuge from violence deserve. we cannot show to the world that we cannot understand emigrants and come up with more alternative ways to monitor. they should at least have due process, go back to court, which is what the laws allow for, but they should not be detained. they will have their day in court and go further asylum. that is part of what they were talking about with repealing the cuban adjustment act. if we repeal it people to come and seek asylum, this will open the doors for those people that nowadays is

needed. back in the days, maybe it was the communist countries that needed our help, but nowadays, our neighbors in the south are the ones that need that resettlement, are the ones that murder,ing violence and and we should be able to open the doors and allow them to have two process to have a hearing -- and to beation able to be out. why couldn't the people from other countries have the same their hearingen is set? those are some of the alternatives to detention and we are spending $2 million a year in immigration detention facilities, plus over $400,000 a year to house families in detention. takes $1030 a day for a

family of three to be detained. that wenot the way should be treating our neighbors in the south. host: we are talking with nelly vielma, and laredo texas. getting our questions -- getting your questions and comments as we continue to be live from the southern border town in texas. tradeow, we will focus on when we go back to laredo texas from the world trade bridge. more of your phone calls here, minnesota, good morning. caller: good morning. we lived on the east coast for 10 years and let me tell you, i did not meet a mexican, they were not there. there were el salvador's and people from other countries, and our black brothers and sisters would come, and they would chide to get jobs and people from the ,ountains would come, white

uneducated, and 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 for work, i watched all of it. 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 industry -- industries going on, they are doing very well in mexico, but they are opening their doors and allowing all the drugs and trafficking, all of the guns, all of the everything that is coming through. host: nelly vielma, respond. a busy -- bigs misconception that most illegal immigration comes from mexico because we happen to be next-door neighbors, but when

you hear about the 11 or 12 40%ion undocumented people, are from other countries. overlast year, there were 123,000 from world -- from europe. where the looking at illegal immigration is coming from, they come in with a passport or visa, and they overstay. in contrast, last year, they overstated -- the overstay my mexico was only 43,000. there is misconception as far as who comes in, but what we caller was talking about regarding jobs, basic example was the reconstruction of katrina, who went out there to do the dirty jobs? who woke up early and worked 14 our jobs a day and they are very hard -- under very harsh conditions, removing mold,

asbestos, cleaning up corpses. nobody lifted a finger, nobody else wanted to do the hard work. people come from other countries with a goal, they come here to work hard, they wake up every morning and they work long hours because they did not come here to just wait around or ask for a freebie in the government. they came here -- freebie from the government. they came here to work. a lot of students are professionals, we have lawyers, we have doctors, i have a preece as one of my -- i have a priest as one of my clients. these children came illegally because the parents wanted to have a better future for them, but it is not their fault to say -- the sins of the parents, but

we need to see is that the only thing that ever is if you bring a baby of two months old and they fled -- fileys to the flag and the only thing that is different is they don't have the paper, but a lot of them are how the educated, highly skilled workers and sosa -- those are some of the misunderstandings where people right away blame mexico. illegal immigration is because of the dust because of the mexicans, but 45% is from other countries, other confidence. virginia.o to vienna, caller: she gives using the word concentration camp, and these are not concentration camps. detention facilities, but that is a lot of hyperbole. your previous guest, i thought was -- i enjoyed listening to him and what i do not understand

is, people are getting systematically raped on the way up, it seems like nobody wants to put order in the border. to compare what is going on now to what happened at ellis island, 100 years ago, there is just no comparison because that was a systematic immigration where you got checked in europe, or diseases because people getting paid to put you on a -- people were getting paid to put you on a ship and people were getting processed and there is no processing in this country. host: we will take your point. guest: there is a process to get you have country and to go through immunization, medical exams, pretty much what was happening back then happens all across the world in the different u.s. embassies that have the provisions for immigrants or nonimmigrants

trying to come into our country, they have to go through this vigorous exchange and also at the border, so illegal immigration pathways, all the people have to go through their examinations. host: he mentioned the family detention, you are wearing a button that says end family detention, are you representing some of these families? yes i have, i have been trying to get them out of bond because they do have claims of asylum. families areese detained, by u.s. customs and border protection, what happens to them after they are handed agency,the next immigration and customs enforcement, what happens? at what point do you get counsel

or can you have counsel? after they are processed and given their uniforms to go to this jail, the families have to look for somebody to represent them. we call thiss that process a civil process, yet we are putting them in jail, and they do not have rights to a attorney, so the family needs to be able to a board and attorney, .r a lot of nonprofits help out this is part of the issue that causes deportation of u.s. citizens that do not know they were u.s. citizens but did not have legal representation. that ihad 18 clients

have brought back as u.s. citizens, even though they were deported and they were deported several times. host: john, an immigrant, go ahead. before nellyer on came, and there was this guy you were talking with, he said that that they did not have enough people to assign to cover the border, and at the same time, he said they had a lack of information from the government. based on my own idea, i don't think -- this is a huge problem in the world. said drugsn they were missing in the cia office, how do you see that? visit you see drugs in the street. people come here to make a living, they work very hard under heart conditions.

they get paid peanuts. at the end of the day, you say you see drugs on the street. expectations in my own understanding. it is a huge problem. that was john, i go to another john in north carolina. i actually do a lot of reading in politics, and i'm looking at the decisions that allow anchor babies and when the 14th amendment was written, it states all persons born or naturalized in the united states are citizens of the united states and the state in which they resign. there have been several cases that further defined that. one of them was the slaughterhouse cases with elk

versus wilkins, which clarified the subject to its jurisdiction where it was interpreted to citizenshildren and born of the united states and from the wrong, they had the one camp our case in 1898, that personsdefined the subject to jurisdiction to exclude people who came to the country without permission, you legally, by crossing the border without going through the immigration process. how is it that we can have lawyers who as agents of the court are supposed to uphold the law, when we have these precedents that specifically term,e the anchor baby

and i'm just -- host: i'm going to have nelly come in. guest: to the first caller, i think a. war on drugs is a very difficult issue. there are drugs on every street, not just at the border, and that is a big misconception, and we do have a well militarized zone by the local police and the border patrol. the police officers running along, stopping somebody for a traffic ticket and the border patrol running alongside in the same cap doing a drive-through immigration inspection. there is a problem with supply of the drugs, and the addiction that we have in this country.

as far as the immigration and citizenship, i think that the laws have been evolving. is different ways for people to have backtracked to their ancestry or different --uirements, and be able to even if they were not born in this country, if their father or mother was living here and was wen here and was able to have the different statutes that allow for that, and as far as what you are mentioning, anchor babies, our laws are so in need of reform, that you happen to -- that child is set to come back in study in the u.s.,

if the mother happens to have older or younger siblings and they don't count for immigration mom,can only immigrant the an imam is supposed to leave behind all the minor children, so there is a lot of complexions in the law that they need to process for unification. what we do as immigration attorneys as we read the statutes, look at the circumstances, all of the evidence and documentation to -- i haveome cases 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 from birth, based on our laws. we are not following them well because they don't have the right to an attorney when they go to these detention facilities.

host: conway in south carolina has been waiting, good morning. caller: cheaper trays that the illegals are victims, but not all of them are victims. ,ost of the people i deal with i do translation for my local hospital, and the girls came , that theyreparation were ready to deliver the baby in order to have the benefits, in theirere prepared different centers of illegal acts and in north carolina, it was given the illegals take documentation in order to get here, and deliver the baby, and then claim their benefits. host: nelly vielma. guest: i'm not saying that everyone that comes here is a victim, my practice over the

past five years, i have represented over 300 victims, -- with the have prosecution of a crime, i have represented victims under the violence against women act and as was mentioned, a lot of people come here seeking the benefits, that is a percentage as well, so there is all types of cases, and that is why our laws address the different cases, but still, they are kind of far behind and we need to catch up on our immigration reform and take into account a lot of these factors and have a better system for immigration. host: tony from new jersey, you are on the air. there are laws on our book about immigration, so i want to ask her, when these people come here, and they break the laws, because they know they

are breaking the laws, are we supposed to just justify it and let them stay here? drugs, you getl locked up in jail, that is our law, so why do we have to accept laws for people who come here illegally. if corporations that hire these people that is paying them cheap labor, if we go after corporations and say you hire illegals here and then we find 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: whenever people break the law, they will have consequence is, and more so if you are here illegally, because there is a detainment in place, if you go to jail, the government has and

so, noted quote a daily only are they not able to post the bond, they are supposed to submit -- now they're supposed to go through the second lateral consequence and go to an immigration detention facility and be processed for the second time. think that anybody who is committing a crime and is here illegally is going to get away with it because as i mentioned before, there is additional the payment and additional processing that they have to undergo for deportation. host: alex in kentucky, on our line for immigrants. are you with us? caller: yes. host: it is your turn, you have to go. caller: i'm ready.

i have a question and a comment. host: go ahead. caller: yes. yes are you here? host: you are confused because you have to turn down the tv. we will go to kirk in jamaica. you are on the air. caller: good morning. i was deported from the united states just a little bit over six months ago, and i used to be in haskell, texas. what she is saying, i have been through it, i was detained for i wasd a half years, unfairly deported, and there is no justice in the system, and i was in hospital -- in hospital,

texas -- hospital, texas -- she is talking about, because i have been rooted. i have to leave, i'm going through the process right now, and luckily i did an interview -- i have an interview coming up, but i have a couple of hurdles that i have to cross, like the 10 year bar,. i have to go file a hardship waiver, so i'm not even through the gates yet, and i might come back to the united states, it just depends on the whole process that i have to go through. nelly vielma, can you speak to kirk's case? guest: that is a perfect example of how immigration systems are

broken down. two a half years, detained, that is a long time. log ises -- the case he wasvery long and as mentioning, he may qualify to come back to the country, they will have to go through 10 years staying out of the country and coming back and improving and in some cases, extreme and unusual hardship in our laws are going to allow anyone to come back. it is a very high standard of proof that we as attorneys have to put together in order for someone who has broken the law but is here -- by being here illegally to be able to come legally with the family. the extreme and unusual hardship standard is a very high level of evidence to prove, and it is interesting that people should not have to wait to an half weight two and a half

years. who is watching -- watching and calling from laredo, texas, go ahead. my question is that being here, i have been living here for 15 years, and i have seen the issue of people coming into laredomexico and setting up home and families near laredo, not going to the rest of the country. these illegals obtain some certain privileges like medical or going into the emergency rooms or depleting our medical industry. which -- have babies, social security and other benefits that they have not paid into the system and the rest of us americans are being trained for. host: when we talk to the mayor

of laredo during our visit in april, he said 30,000 40,000 of his community are undocumented families. there is a high population of undocumented families, but a lot of them still work into the system, a lot of them are paying the taxes. some of them might have fraudulent documents and are paying into the system. from theirre getting here,s people who work 20, 30 years of their life and they do not get social security, saul of that goes into the bank for the rest of the people to benefit from as well, we have a problem with illegal immigration, we also have a problem in enforcement, but we are spending already, $20

billion a year in enforcement, and it is difficult to go out and say, do you have baker's -- papers, since we have a 97% hispanic community, -- definitely a problem that a lot of the communities, but we do not have a high crime rate compared to other cities. host: we want to thank you for joining us from laredo and talking to our viewers about the immigration laws, thank you. guest: thank you, a pleasure. host: washington journal will continue live from this fund border town of laredo, texas or the rio grande separates the u.s. community from its exiting counterpart. we will turn our attention to the mexican side when we come back with mexican journalist alfredo corchado. before we get to that conversation, we want to show you a little more from our visit

to laredo, texas back in april. we were able to meet with all three divisions of customs and border protection and one of those divisions was border patrol in the green. maria martinez told us about the daily attempts by the mexican cartel to smuggle people and narcotics across the border. here, 17,000 plus apprehensions that we have had so far in the first x months of this year, our mexican nationals, coming from mexico, trying to make their entry into the united states. we also see a number of people from central and south america. we see folks as far away as ecuador, we see folks from china and other areas of the world,. it is not really can find to anyone area.

area.fined to any one transnational criminal organizations can really finance trips to the united states and they pay anywhere from $1500 to $60,000 depending on how far and what types of techniques they are using, whether it is forging documents or not, and how long the trip is going to take, so depending on where they are coming from, they pay a very significant price, and it also depends on where they expect to go into the united states. obviously some will pay more. smuggling?oing the >> most of the folks doing the smuggling are criminals, dedicating their lives to narcotics.liens and

what people don't understand is that people they think are just trying to do a humanitarian effort and trying to transport them or help them, the migrant getting to the united states, it is actually part of the criminal enterprise. the only job is really to collect that price that someone is going to pay in order to get into the united states and they find his job being exploited at every level of that transaction. ladies that are being raped, we see folks that are being robbed, we see people being kidnapped and extorted for more money to put their lives in the hands of these smugglers. host: we are back, you were just listening to the chief for border patrol in the laredo area, on your screen is the map

or you can see laredo. way up into all the san antonio. responsible for stopping illegal immigration into this country, we are live this morning from the border town of laredo, talking about immigration issues and joining us from bridge one, pedestrian crossing bridge that separates the united states from mexico is alfredo corchado. you wrote this book about the ongoing drug wars, drug trafficking, that divides your two countries. is it still midnight in mexico? guest: good morning. yesterdayst of

traveling along the mexico and texas border and i asked myself that question. last veteranlaredo midnight and i looked on the mexican side of the border and i think compared to when i wrote the book in 2013, there is been a lot more piece and prosperity -- there has been a lot more peace and prosperity, but we are right across the city that is still openly self censored, they say there is no guarantee from the government, no protection from the government, against these drug cartels. there is no real freedom to move , oftentimes you have convoys leaving from the interior of the need militarywho escorts or just themselves try to travel through the border. all the issues that we talked about, unfortunately have not been resolved, there are still many questions about where

mexico is going, into the future. there is still, is it still midnight? i do not know if it is midnight, maybe it is almost host: what led to the darkness? guest: many factors led to darkness. was in 2001ey wone mexico for the first time experienced a government that came in and that led to a vacuum, a power vacuum where basically, drug cartels who not often but they really operate one-on-one, corruption with federal authorities. many of these cartels became the king pins not just of the drug