Speech #1040200719

And it is four more agents then we had before. But we need additional INS enforcement to assist Iowas law enforcement in the central and western parts our State. In fact. the Omaha district office assessed in their initial report to the Justice Department that at least eight INS enforcement agents are needed simply to handle the issue of illegal immigration in Iowa. Mr. President. in the immigration reform legislation before the Senate this week. the Attorney General will be mandated to increase the number of Border Patrol agents by 1.000 every year for the next 4 years. Yet for Iowa. the Justice Department can only spare four law enforcement agents and no agents to perform examinations or Inspections functions. By providing each State with its own INS office. the Justice Department will save taxpayer dollars by reducing not only travel time but also jail time per alien. since a permanent INS presence would substantially speed up deportation proceedings. There is also a growing need to assist legal immigrants and to speed up document processing. The Omaha INS office reported that based on its first quarter totals for this year the examinations process for legal immigrants applying for citizenship or adjusting their status went up 45 percent from last year. Even though. once again. the manpower for the Omaha INS office is down by onethird. I have recommended that a permanent INS office in Des Moines be located In free office space that would be provided by the Des Moines International Airport.