Lawmakers told manpower is key for effective border security

AUSTIN, Texas - Increased technology along the Texas border cannot replace the "boots on the border" necessary to address homeland security, Democratic House members from Texas were told during a session on the federal budget at the Texas Capitol on Monday.

Criminals who want to cross the border into the United States are not stupid, said T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, a labor group that represents U.S. Border Patrol workers. If the United States had announced, with great fanfare, that border agents would be massed along the Arizona border, then those looking for safe passage will turn to other states, Bonner said.

"If we think smugglers are stupid enough to flow through Arizona where we're beefing up our presence ... Well, I can tell you that they're not that stupid," Bonner said. "Some of the folks in the administration may be, but I can assure you the criminals are not."

Bonner, whose group represents border-security guards, had a receptive audience. Rep. Silvestre Reyes held up a large blank piece of cardboard and said the Bush administration's plan for homeland security was as blank as that cardboard when it came to protecting the country.

"We have a president, running for re-election, who said his No. 1 priority was keeping us safe as a nation and then comes in and insults the country by saying, 'I'm going to fund less than 50 percent of the attribution rate of the U.S. Border Patrol,'" said Reyes, a former Border Patrol agent. "That is scandalous as far as I'm concerned."

Bonner said technology was key to the enforcement effort along the border. New equipment in the federal budget includes millions of sensors and low-light infrared cameras. It provides extra eyes and ears, but it does not replace agents, Bonner said.

"The administration, in its budget request, has touted technology as a replacement for boots on the border, but it's agents, not technology, that goes out and apprehend," Bonner said. "This is not a high-tech military game of tag where we go out and say, 'Tag, you're it. Go back home.' By and large, we're out there apprehending them ourselves."

Rep. Gene Green, who represents the Ship Channel in Houston, said border and port security must be in place to maintain strong border control. In other testimony, Port of Houston Managing Director Wade Battles agreed, saying the port had devoted $100 million to new equipment to upgrade its security.

Battles estimated about 10 percent of all cargo is screened. The need for security must be balanced with the need to keep cargo flowing, Battles said. And while technology was a significant component to meet that end, Battles agreed that personnel were the key answer when it came down to how to get the job done.

"We have new tools and equipment that are being deployed, but we have a critical need for additional officers and personnel, especially if we're going to try to push our borders offshore," Battles said. "We need to make sure all of our first responders, have the personnel and tools they need to succeed."