Illegals Heading Back Across Border; Revolving Door at Border for Some Illegals; New Mexico Governor Weighs in on Border Issues
O'BRIEN: Illegal immigration is a huge issue for many voters in Tuesday' primaries, especially in the state of Texas. Tonight we show you just how determined some illegals are to get into the United States. There's kind of a revolving door on the border, where illegals can enter and leave the U.S. over and over again. Here's CNN's Gary Tuchman.</s>GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's high noon on the streets of violent Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. Twenty-year-old Alejandro Toledo Lara (ph) and his 16-year-old cousin Juan tell us their dream is to get to North Carolina. (on camera) (speaking foreign language)</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It's very pretty. It has a lot of work. It is very green.</s>TUCHMAN (voice-over): The cousins talked to us in the midst of a bizarre tumultuous day. A few hours earlier they can be seen on this videotape in the Rio Grande River on a makeshift raft. Alejandro, his cousin and a 16-year-old friend, along with three others spotted by one of the increasing number of border cameras. They reach land in Texas and start running. Alejandro says he agreed to pay a smuggler $2,000 if they made it safely. (on camera) The thick vegetation here on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande is the illegal immigrant's friend. It serves as camouflage. It's very hard to see them after they cross. (voice-over) Three of the six get away. But not Alejandro and the two 16-year-olds. They are loaded on the Border Patrol paddy wagon.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not out of the ordinary that we do see the same people more than once.</s>TUCHMAN: Alejandro tells us this is his second time being caught. They are three of an estimated 5,500 illegal immigrants apprehended monthly in the Laredo area alone. They're processed in a Border Patrol detention center where others rest and sleep in small holding cells. The 20-year-old has to show how much money he has with him. He's carrying 300 American dollars and 1,600 Mexican pesos, which is worth about $160 more. A huge amount of money for someone who makes about $10 a day working in Mexico. (on camera) What is the computer telling you?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The computer is saying he doesn't any history. He's not wanted by the FBI, no criminal history.</s>TUCHMAN (voice-over): It does say he was apprehended once before in 2004, but because he's not suspected of being a criminal, he's given his money back and ushered into one of the holding cells. But because Alejandro has been nabbed fewer than seven times and is not considered dangerous, it will be a very short stay. Within one hour, Alejandro and his cousin, who both live 17 hours away by bus, are being escorted by a U.S. agent across the international bridge back into Mexico. Their 16-year-old friend will be released a bit later, because his family has to be notified. When they reach the borderline between the two countries, the agent says good-bye, and Alejandro and his cousin, who were apprehended only hours ago, are now back in Mexico, free to try to cross the river again. Even Alejandro thinks it's a bit incredible.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Yes, I think it's ridiculous that they take you halfway across the bridge. But everybody has a job to do.</s>TUCHMAN: Alejandro says as soon as they meet up with their friend, it's back to the Rio Grande.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We're going to try again and do it from a different area where it's more secure and not as dangerous.</s>TUCHMAN: But he appears to have a change of heart when they meet up with their friend, Luis, at a social service center where he was brought. A Mexican police officer drives them to the Nuevo Laredo bus station, and they buy tickets for the long, bumpy ride back home. Alejandro now says he's OK with staying in Mexico for the time being.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): because I like it. It's my home.</s>TUCHMAN: But as the bus gets ready to leave, only 16-year-old Luis is getting on it. A short time before, the other two said they were getting something to eat. Luis won't say what happened to them. So we realize that they gave us the slip. There is no record of Alejandro and his cousin being caught again. So there is a very good chance they are now living underground in the United States, perhaps even in North Carolina. Gary Tuchman, CNN, Nuevo Laredo, Mexico.</s>O'BRIEN: Joining us this evening is Bill Richardson, the governor of the border state of New Mexico. Nice to see you, Governor. Thanks for talking with us. I know for a long time, sir...</s>GOV. BILL RICHARDSON (D), NEW MEXICO: Thank you, Soledad.</s>O'BRIEN: ... you have pushed for improvements in technology. You've wanted to see more border agents, and you've also said you want to see a path to legalization. But you oppose that 700-mile fence, you oppose state troopers having the power to detain. How likely do you think it's going to be that, at some point in Washington, D.C., these efforts will come together, and people will actually come up with a plan that looks sort of like what you're looking for?</s>RICHARDSON: Well, Soledad, I think in your excellent segment you've shown a broken immigration system. You've shown that states can't deal with this issue. There has to be a federal solution. So what you need is comprehensive immigration. Stronger border security, but also a full legalization program. My view on a fence is not going to work. You showed the desperation of those illegal workers coming in. What I think will work is more Border Patrol agents, double the number. More technology at the border to detect, maybe, a nuclear material. But if you put up a fence, you put a 12-foot fence, you're going to have 13-foot ladders. You've shown how desperate people are. What makes sense is a full legalization program, not amnesty, where these individuals are allowed to stay if they are required to register, and then they proceed with having a background check, learning English, paying back taxes, paying a fine. That's the way to go.</s>O'BRIEN: But plenty -- but plenty of critics of your plan would say that it just doesn't go far enough, that your plans to secure the border don't go enough of the way. Listen to Duncan Hunter from California, quickly.</s>REP. DUNCAN HUNTER (R), CALIFORNIA: People now understand if you want to get into the United States illegally you no longer come through L.A. International Airport; you come across a land border between Mexico and the United States. So there's a dimension of homeland security that's concerned about terrorism that needs to be focused on this. And this no longer is simply an immigration issue; it's a security issue.</s>O'BRIEN: There are plenty of people who say you want to do comprehensive immigration -- comprehensive immigration reform. Forget the comprehensive part and just focus on the border, you know, and put that fence in and some other things that would really stop immigrants from coming across the border.</s>RICHARDSON: Well, you can't have sensible immigration policy unless you have stronger border security, that I agree with. But a legalization plan for the 12 million that are already here. What are you going to do, deport 12 million people? My difference with Congressman Hunter is not that we have to secure the border. We do. More Border Patrol agents, more technology. Keep the National Guard there longer. I've urged President Bush to keep the guard there beyond the summer when he wants to take it out. But a fence is not going to work. Fences have not worked. The Berlin Wall, the wall -- the Great Wall of China. When people are desperate, they're going to cross that fence. They're going to go over it. They're going to go under it. A fence is a terrible symbol between a division of two countries. Use technology. Double the number of Border Patrol agents. Backup the problem is the Republicans talk good, the president talks good. The Congress talks good, but they don't do anything. So governors like me...</s>O'BRIEN: Well, what about the Democrats? What about the Democrats? Of the two Democratic presidential candidates, who has the best immigration plan? Is it Hillary Clinton or is it Barack Obama?</s>RICHARDSON: Well, I believe they both are moving in the right direction. They say they have...</s>O'BRIEN: That's a non-answer answer.</s>RICHARDSON: No, no, no. I will tell you. I opposed their position -- both of them voted for the wall. I disagree with that. Both of them do think we need comprehensive immigration. That's far better. Now Senator McCain started out with a sensible plan. What I talked about, the full legalization program, was Senator Ted Kennedy and John McCain, but Senator McCain is backing off from what I consider to be a sensible proposal, to give full legalization to the 12 million. Not amnesty. You know, some standards. Require them to register. Pay back taxes. Pass a background check. Make sure they learn English. Make sure they pay a fine for coming here illegally. Don't get ahead of those that are trying to get here legally. But you've got to deal with it comprehensively, Soledad. And you know, you can have all of these issues and these programs. Unless the Congress and the president deal with this, states like mine, local police chiefs, local jurisdictions cannot handle what is a national problem.</s>O'BRIEN: It sounds like neither of the senators is exactly impressing you with their -- their immigration policy or plan. Do you have a candidate who you would endorse at this point?</s>RICHARDSON: No.</s>O'BRIEN: Was that like a snort-laugh, Governor? I've never heard that before on TV. You laughed so hard you...</s>RICHARDSON: Well, I'm going to -- I'm going to stay loose. We've got two excellent candidates. I may decide before the Texas primary. I may not. But, you know, I'm a renaissance man. I'm growing my beard. I'm talking to you. I'm a local politician, retired.</s>O'BRIEN: What's that all about, you and Al Gore, you all grow a beard after you get off the campaign trail.</s>RICHARDSON: Well, you know, you go into decompression after you get into a race and you don't do well. So that's what I'm doing. But, look. It's going to be a good race. Immigration's going to be a top issue. But the key component is it's got to be a federal solution. It's got to be the Congress and the president acting, and they have failed to act, miserably.</s>O'BRIEN: Governor Bill Richardson joining us tonight with the no=answer to who he's going to endorse. Thank you, sir, for your time. We appreciate it. Always nice to see you. Coming up next, a brutal day on Wall Street. Stocks falling like Paris for the paparazzi. And in honor of leap day, an incredible leap off a mountain. It's our "Shot of the Day," and it's coming up.