Congressmembers hold hearing on border issues in Weslaco
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Brooks County Sheriff Benny Martinez testified Wednesday evening before members of Congress at a field hearing in Weslaco.
He said the illegal smuggling of people and drugs are costing lives, and a lot of money for his small county.
"We have to secure the border, put those walls back up," Martinez said. "That's important because all it is a tool, that's what the wall is. As you would a radar and a patrol car, it's just a tool."
Brooks County is home to the Falfurrias checkpoint, and Martinez didn't mince words at the hearing.
"The reason I'm passionate about this because I had another representative, a Congressman from California, that questioned it," Martinez said. "I think I'm the only sheriff with a morgue in the county, and I'm holding bodies for Zavala County."
Martinez said he has a team of five deputies who've recovered nearly a thousand bodies, or remains, belonging to people who died trying to sneak past the checkpoint since 2009.
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