AUSTIN, Texas -- Accusing Congress of abdicating its responsibility to secure the U.S.-Mexico border, the governors of Texas, California, New Mexico and Arizona urged federal lawmakers Friday to pass comprehensive immigration reform before the end of the year.

The state leaders also joined the governors of six Mexican states in signing a joint declaration in which they agreed to vigilantly detect and deter criminal activity along the border by sharing information about issues such as human, drug and arms trafficking.

"No civilized society that values freedom and the rights of the individual can allow the unique criminal threat that exists along our international border to go unchallenged or unchecked," Texas Gov. Rick Perry said during the closing ceremony of the two-day Border Governors Conference.

In a letter being sent to House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, the governors said citizens and noncitizens are losing respect for the rule of law thanks to six years of lax and ineffective enforcement of the borders.

"Instead of holding dozens of field hearings that do little but stir the pot of discontent, we urge you to get back to work and pass legislation that puts the interest of taxpayers first and solves this crisis once and for all," the governors said in their letter.

U.S. House and Senate members have passed differing bills this year dealing with immigration and border security, but they've yet to work out the differences in the two versions.

House GOP leaders convened a series of hearings this summer after the Senate approved a guest worker program and a possible path to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants. The House-approved bill focuses on enforcement and has no provision for illegal immigrants or future guest workers.

The ongoing hearings have been criticized as a political maneuver to delay immigration legislation and to help Republican candidates in an election year.

Perry, a Republican, said he and the other governors were not endorsing either chamber's plan.

"It is time for Congress to act and to act with great expediency," he said.

While the Mexican governors did not sign the letter to Hastert and Frist, several of them urged Congress to act in their closing remarks. Baja California Gov. Eugenio Elorduy Walther said political leaders must recognize that people will always migrate across borders, like the first North American settlers did thousands of years ago.

"What we need to do is address it as a reality, address it legally and humanistically," he said.