Effectiveness of National Guard deployment in doubt as funding for agents is stripped
WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords today harshly criticized the Senate for its move last night to strip $701 million in emergency funds for border security from an appropriations bill.
“Southern Arizonans should be appalled that the United States Senate said ‘no’ to supporting the troops on the border, said ‘no’ to protecting the ranchers in my district who are threatened daily and said ‘no’ to increasing border patrol agents who would help stop the flow of drugs and illegal immigrants into our country,” said Giffords. “Arizonans repeatedly have said they want stronger border security and senators yesterday turned their backs on them. This is the kind of Washington gridlock that Americans are sick of.”
The $701 million for border security was included in the Fiscal Year 2010 Supplemental Appropriations Bill, which the House approved July 2 by a 239-to-182 vote.
“Guard troops are scheduled to be deployed to the border starting on Aug. 1,” Giffords said. “But this long-overdue deployment was not to take place in a vacuum, and the success of their mission now is in doubt.”
Giffords noted that Guard troops were intended as a bridge until additional agents from the Border Patrol are hired, trained and in place. The Senate action yesterday removes funding for those additional agents, raising questions about the effectiveness of the Guard deployment.
The additional funding for border security had been added to the bill after Giffords secured the support of 50 of her colleagues to request that House appropriations leaders approve the additional money.
On May 12, Giffords and her colleagues wrote: “The recent murders of American citizens connected to the U.S. Consulate in Ciudad Juarez and the brazen murder of an Arizona rancher on American soil highlight the growing insecurity faced by Americans living along the border with Mexico.”
But when the Senate considered the bill last night, it stripped out the funding for border security.
Giffords said she sought the additional funding following increased violence in Mexico and because agents in the Tucson sector of the Border Patrol apprehend 47 percent of the illegal immigrants in the entire country. The Tucson Sector also is responsible for almost 50 percent of the drug seizures in the entire Border Patrol nationwide. Last year, agents in the Tucson Sector seized more than 1.2 million pounds of marijuana.
South of the border, an increasingly violent battle is underway between drug cartels and the government. In the past four years, more than 23,000 Mexicans have been killed in this drug war. Just last month, 21 people were killed only 12 miles south of the Arizona border when two rival drug cartels battled each other.
“The drug cartels have become more brazen than ever,” Giffords said, “and it is commonplace to see heavily armed drug runners coming across ranch land and into the communities of Southern Arizona.”
This fear was increased by the murder of one of Giffords’ constituents, fifth-generation rancher Rob Krentz, who was killed March 27 in Southeastern Arizona.
The money stripped from the bill by the Senate would have paid for additional Border Patrol agents, surveillance technology and assistance to local law enforcement agencies including:
- $208.4 million for 1,200 additional Border Patrol agents to be deployed between ports of entry along the Southwest border
- $201 million for Justice Department programs and the temporary deployment of personnel to high-crime areas (including adding seven Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Gunrunner Teams; five FBI Hybrid Task Forces; additional Drug Enforcement Administration agents; more than 20 deputy U.S. marshals; additional attorneys including more than 30 prosecutors and immigration judges; and additional detention and incarceration costs for criminal aliens and provide funding to support Mexican law enforcement operations)
- $136 million to add 500 additional officers at ports of entry along the Southwest Border and deploy additional canine teams
- $50 million for Operation Stonegarden grants to support local law enforcement activities on the border
- $35.5 million for improved tactical communications on the Southwest border, three permanent Border Patrol forward operating bases and a surge in investigations designed to prevent corruption among CBP officers and agents
- $32 million to procure two additional CBP unmanned aerial detection systems
- $30 million to hire additional Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents