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Swinford to bury immigration bills
BY ENRIQUE RANGEL
AVALANCHE-JOURNAL AUSTIN BUREAU
AUSTIN - He may live far away from the Mexican border, but state Rep. David Swinford knows firsthand how illegal immigration impacts a community and the entire state.
Thousands of illegal immigrants live in his district, especially in Cactus, where the biggest employer is Swift & Co., the meat packing plant raided by U.S. immigration authorities in December.
But the Dumas Republican has also been a legislator long enough (16 years) to know that immigration is a federal issue, even if he thinks Washington has done a lousy job protecting the southern U.S. border.