Speech #970260464

Mr. Chairman. in March of this year the Judiciary Committees Subcommittee on Immigration. Refugees. and International Law held hearings on the fiscal year 1983 authorization for the Immigration and Naturalization Service. The full Judiciary Committee. meeting in May. recommended personnel and funding levels that reflected the unanimous sentiments of the members of the Immigration Subcommittee. The Judiciary Committees decision to authorize 642 positions not included in the administrations budget request represented a modest response to the burgeoning workload of the Service and the continuing flow of hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens to the United States each year. The omission from H.R. 8957 of funding for the additional positions recommended by the Committee on the Judiciary is a matter of serious concern to any Member of Congress who believes that the United States must regain some measure of control over the flow of illegal aliens. Resources must be devoted to funding additional positions for the Immigration Service if we hope to make major progress in cutting surreptitious entries. relieve the congestion at our international airports. and locate illegal aliens in the interior of the United States. The Select Commission on Immigration and Refugee Policy. a bipartisan congressionalPresidential commission. recommended after extensive hearings and study that: "Border Patrol funding levels be raised to provide (in part) for a substantial increase in the numbers and training of personnel $ * *" and that "portofentry inspections be enhanced by increasing the number of primary inspectors * * . " The Committee on the Judiciary and its Subcommittee on Immigration. Refugees. and International Lawover the course of a number of yearshave been instrumental in the authorization of funds for levels of personnel needed to enable the Service to fulfill its mission. Despite action by the Judiciary Committee and the Congress in prior years. many positions remain unfilled. The 10.604 permanent positions requested by the administration for fiscal year 1983 compares with 10.888 actual positions authorized in fiscal year 1981. Although this administration is making an effort to fill positions that have long been authorized. it is insufficient in 1983 to fill positions the Congress recognized we needed 2 years ago. The 1983 budget. on the contrary. must be responsive to 1983 needs. The enactment of a new law dealing with immigration reform and controla major agenda item for the Congressby itself will not solve the immigration enforcement problems facing the United States unless we also are prepared to allocate the resources needed by the Immigration Service to fulfill its mission. In the course of our subcommittee hearings. I attempted to develop a record in some detail comparing personnel levels in 1981 and 1983. This important data documents our failure to make real progress In meeting the needs of the Service. A comparison of the 1981 actual work year and the 1983 work year base shows only a negligible gain in inspectionsfrom 1.703 to 1.712and actual reductions in work years for antismuggling activityfrom 300 in fiscal year 1981 to 283 in 1983and in interior enforcementinvestigationsfrom 705 actual work years in 1981 to 596 work years in 1983. The figures for border patrolimmediate border show increases in work years between 1981 and 1983but the 1983 work year figures still fall below permanent positions authorized back in 1981. At a time when the INS workload is up and public awareness of the problem of Illegal entry is heightened. we can and must do more to respond to the Services lack of essential personnel. Additional INS officers can serve as an important deterrent to violations of our immigration laws. I hope that the Congress. and the administration in considering funding for service in a possible supplemental request for fiscal year 1983 and in appropriations for future fiscal years. will be more responsive to the documented need for more realistic personnel levels.*