DHS chief revises forecast for fully securing U.S. borders
Department plans to have more than 18,300 Border Patrol agents hired by the end of 2008, which would double the force from 2001 levels.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Thursday his department can accelerate its ability to control the nation's borders by 2008, but House lawmakers remained concerned that the effort lacks strategic planning and effective oversight.
Chertoff told the House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee during a hearing that the department can shorten the time it will take to gain "operational control" of the borders through its Secure Border Initiative. "I think we can get this done in 2008," he said.
When Chertoff announced the SBI program last year, he said it would take five years to gain operational control of the northern and southern borders. He told lawmakers Thursday that homeland security funding in the recently approved fiscal 2006 emergency supplemental bill, along with the deployment of National Guard troops to the border, will enable the department to accelerate the program.
He said the department plans to have more than 18,300 Border Patrol agents hired by the end of 2008, which he said would double the force from 2001 levels.
Chertoff also said the department plans to award a contract in 45 to 60 days to develop and implement the first phase of the program, dubbed SBInet, which is focused exclusively on improving security at the nation's borders through a combination of technology, tactical infrastructure and personnel. Other phases of SBI are expected to focus on enforcement of immigration laws inside the country and implementing a temporary guest worker program if Congress passes legislation authorizing that.
Lawmakers said they were concerned, however, that the department has not yet submitted a strategic plan to Congress for securing the borders.
"Without that plan it's unclear to us ... as to whether or not operational control is worth buying," said House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Harold Rogers, R-Ky. "We need to know the cost of it [and] we need to know what we're buying. We don't like to buy in the dark."
SBI program manager Greg Giddens previously told the subcommittee that a "strategy document outlining the objectives" would be submitted by the end of last April, but that deadline was missed. Chertoff said the plan will be submitted Nov. 1.
House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee ranking member Martin Olav Sabo, D-Minn., said he was concerned the department will rely too heavily on industry for border security without effective oversight. Chertoff acknowledged much is expected from industry, saying the department has asked the private sector to propose technology and processes for border security.
"This frankly puts the burden on them to go out and do the legwork, as opposed to us doing the legwork," Chertoff said. But he assured the panel that SBI will have clear goals and proper oversight.
Chertoff also asked again for Congress to pass legislation that would enact a temporary guestworker program, saying doing so would be cheaper than trying to round up and deport illegal immigrants across the country. He said it would cost up to $10 billion to try to reduce the number of illegal immigrants in the country by 10 percent if the department has to detain and deport them.