Border securityCritics: tough talk on border security not backed up with funds
Last August, with virtually unanimous bipartisan support, Congress increased border funding by $600 million, adding 1,000 new agents to the Border Patrol; Republicans complained this was not enough — citing a GAO report that said that by the Border Patrol’s own standards, the agency had “operational control” over only 873 miles of the 2,000-mile border with Mexico in 2010, or about 44 percent; Lamar Smith (R-Texas), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said administration officials “are either blissfully unaware of the massive holes in security along the Southern border or are intentionally misleading the American people”; trouble is, as part of their $60 billion in budget cuts, Republicans propose shrinking the Border Patrol by 870 agents and cut $272 million in funds for surveillance systems to monitor the border with Mexico
U.S. Border Patrol' Special Response Team during training // Source: tactical-life.com
Preparing for the fight in Congress over federal spending legislation, Democratic leaders in the Senate said they will not support a bill with $60 billion in budget cuts that passed the Republican-led House on Saturday because it reduces funding for border security.
In a letter sent yesterday (Monday) to House appropriations leaders, Senator Charles Schumer of New York and two other Democrats said the House bill would shrink the Border Patrol by 870 agents and cut $272 million in funds for surveillance systems to monitor the border with Mexico. They said those cuts would cancel gains from a bill adopted last August, with virtually unanimous bipartisan support, that increased border funding by $600 million, adding 1,000 new agents to the Border Patrol.
“This magnitude of reduction is simply dangerous,” wrote Schumer, who is chairman of the Senate judiciary subcommittee on immigration. Also signing were Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico and Jon Tester of Montana.
The New York Times reports that tough border security is a mantra for both Democrats and Republicans in Congress this year, with each party trying to outdo the other. Republicans have accused the Obama administration of slowing border enforcement, allowing illegal immigration and drug violence to run out of control.
Support for their criticism came in testimony last week before a House Homeland Security subcommittee by Richard M. Stana of the Government Accountability Office (GAO). He reported that by the Border Patrol’s own standards, its agents had “operational control” over only 873 miles of the 2,000-mile border with Mexico in 2010, or about 44 percent.
“Forty-four percent is a failing grade,” said Lamar Smith, the Republican from Texas who is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. He said administration officials “are either blissfully unaware of the massive holes in security along the Southern border or are intentionally misleading the American people.”
At the same hearing, Michael J. Fisher, the chief of the Border Patrol, said the standards of control Stana applied were an “outdated measure” that would be replaced, because they did not reflect advances in surveillance technology and in intelligence-sharing among border agencies. With more than 20,700 agents last year, the Border Patrol has doubled in size since funding increases began in 2004. Arrests of illegal border crossers have dropped steeply, to 463,000 last year from 1.1 million in 2004.
Republican lawmakers said they will not support measures to give legal status to millions of illegal immigrants, including one written by Schumer, until they are satisfied the southwest border is secure. Mr. Schumer has complained that Republicans keep moving back the goal post without acknowledging new enforcement programs approved with Democrats’ support.
Republican leaders said the House budget cuts did not undercut their border security goals. “Even with all the money in the world, the administration would not succeed in securing the border because they are not serious about it,” Smith said.
