Speech #940094970

I rise to offer this amendment to H.R. 8121 making appropriation for the Department of State. Commerce. and the Judiciary. My amendment simply adds $45 million for the Immigration Services budget but more importantly provides them with 1.750 new personnel. 1.000 more than is in the committee bill to better equip them to control the grave illegal alien crisis afflicting our Nation today. This bill provides for a mere 750 man increase in enforcement personnel. A closer look at the breakdown of development shows that not one new investigator is provided for despite the fact that this division has the primary responsibility for locating and deporting the 7 to 12 million illegal aliens currently residing in this Nation. In addition the committee bill provides for only 200 new border patrol personnel. a token increase which will do little to improve their current apprehension ratio of one illegal alien to every four who make it in. The only area where the bill comes anywhere near a realistic increase is in detention and deportation personnel. but even here without investigators to apprehend illegal aliens. their people may end up having little to do. Yet. the committee defends this appropriation stating that it represents the full amount requested by the Immigration Service. Yet past history tells us that the INS has almost given up trying to gain realistic increases because they are aware that their efforts will be thwarted by the Congress. For the period from fiscal year 1971 through fiscal year 1975 the INS has requested $783.661.000 of which Congress has appropriated $691.107.800.