Southwest legislators seek more Border Patrol funds

A bipartisan group of Southwest border House members Thursday urged President Clinton to reverse his administration's decision against seeking 1,000 additional Border Patrol officers next year, the Associated Press reported.

"We are writing you today to express our concerns that your budget request for fiscal year 2000 does not recognize the congressional mandate to fund 1,000 new Border Patrol agents ..." the nine House members said in a letter organized by Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, a former Border Patrol sector chief.

Joining Reyes in signing the letter were Reps. Henry Bonilla, R-Texas; Ruben Hinojosa, D-Texas; Solomon Ortiz, D-Texas; Ciro Rodriguez, D-Texas; Brian Bilbray, R-Calif.; Randy (Duke) Cunningham, R-Calif.; Duncan Hunter, R-Calif.; and Joe Skeen, R- N.M.

The 1996 immigration overhaul approved by Congress directed the administration to beef up the Border Patrol by 1,000 agents in each of the following five years. But the president's FY2000 budget, submitted Monday, does not request funds for 1,000 new agents, the legislators noted.

Officials of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Border Patrol's parent agency, said the Border Patrol, which has more than doubled since 1993, needs time to absorb its new recruits.