Border concerns bubble up at Senate hearing

Concerns about border security boiled over at a Senate hearing Wednesday, prompting Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff to announce he is going to the Southwestern border to view operations.

"We've got a huge problem that you must get your hands around and get it under control," said Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, during a hearing of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security.

"If we cannot control our border, we will never be able to write immigration policy that works. We will always be playing catch-up to an ever increasing number of illegals in our country," he added. "Probably everyone on this committee has a slightly different opinion about how we handle the problem. But I think we are all in concert about how we handle the border."

Some senators noted the Minuteman Project in Arizona, which consists of citizen observation posts along a 20-mile stretch of the border with Mexico for the month of April. Participants in the all-volunteer project are prohibited from making contact with illegal immigrants, but observe and report their activity to the Border Patrol.

Organizers said at a press conference Monday that illegal immigration had been almost stopped in their observation area, showing that a physical presence on the border can work.

The border between Arizona and Mexico has the highest illegal immigration rate in the country, according to the Customs and Border Protection Bureau.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., asked Chertoff why the department does not increase the number of Border Patrol agents.

"The time has come to fish or cut bait," she said. "This is something I think we are willing to pay for. This is something that I think we would be willing to add."

Subcommittee Chairman Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., suggested that DHS should reduce the size of the Transportation Security Administration in order to free up resources and money for increased border protection.

Chertoff said a "comprehensive approach" is needed to address border security and illegal immigration, which includes President Bush's proposed temporary guest worker program as well as stepped-up enforcement.

"There's no question this is a serious issue, this whole issue of managing illegal immigration," he said. "What we have to do is use a comprehensive approach. We have to be able to have more people at the border, better technology at the border … better investigative capability, better and more available use of detention beds."

Under questioning, Chertoff said he would go to the Southwest border within the next two months. "I want to see for myself how we're doing down there, what additional things we can do," he said.

A DHS spokeswoman said the exact details of the trip have not been worked out, such as where Chertoff will go and who he will meet with during the trip.

Chertoff cited actions the department is taking to increase border security. For example, DHS is conducting the second phase of the Arizona Border Control Initiative, which is adding 534 more agents to the region and 23 more aircraft.

Chertoff said the department plans to resume a program "in the next couple of weeks" that repatriates Mexicans caught illegally crossing the border to the interior of Mexico. DHS plans to begin a procurement "in a matter of months" to resume a program of flying unmanned aerial vehicles over the border. And the department has requested more money so the Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau can begin hiring again this year, Chertoff said.

Chertoff noted that DHS's 2006 budget request seeks funding to bring on 210 new Border Patrol agents and 143 new ICE investigators.

"If there are bureaucratic obstacles to enforcing the law, I want to get rid of those," Chertoff added.

Meanwhile, the Minutemen organizers are coming to Washington April 25-27 to meet with members of Congress. Organizer Chris Simcox said the group will present an "ultimatum."

"We will continue to do the job that you don't seem to have the will to do until you relieve us from duty by meeting our demands," Simcox said during a press conference Monday in Tombstone, Ariz. "And that's augmenting Border Patrol with National Guard and military personnel. Until that time, citizens will continue to man the border. No compromise."

He added: "Our government owes us the protection of securing this border. Period."

The Minuteman Project plans to continue operations on two fronts. First, the group will begin "interior patrols" that consist of picketing employers that hire illegal aliens. Beginning Oct. 1, the group plans to set up citizen observation posts in California, New Mexico and Texas. The Arizona observation posts are scheduled to resume in May after a brief hiatus.

The group also wants a 400 percent increase in budgets for the Border Patrol and ICE.