The White House is ignoring a mandate that the Border Patrol be beefed up by 1,000 new agents a year, five GOP senators from Southwest border states charged Tuesday.
In a letter to President Clinton, the senators requested the White House explain by March 28 why its FY98 budget seeks funding for only 500 of the 1,000 agents authorized by Congress, the Associated Press reported.
"We do not understand how you could have neglected to fulfill the immigration act's mandates for 1,000 additional Border Patrol agents, additional land border inspectors and additional space to detain all criminal aliens when preparing your budget," said the letter drafted by Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., who sits on the Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee. "We urge you to submit a revised budget request that allows [the Immigration and Naturalization Service] to meet the act's requirements or to explain why the administration is not complying with the law."
Senate Commerce Chairman McCain, Senate Budget Chairman Domenici, and Texas GOP Sens. Phil Gramm and Kay Bailey Hutchison also signed the letter.
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