Speech #1090077472

The United States shares 5.525 miles of border with Canada and 1.989 miles with Mexico. Many of the local law enforcement agencies located along the border are small. rural departments charged with patrolling large areas of land with few officers and very limited resources. Counties along the Southwest border are some of the poorest in the country and are not in the position to cover the additional costs associated with illegal immigration. drug trafficking. and other borderrelated crimes. According to a 2001 study by the United StatesMexico Border Counties Coalition. local law enforcement and criminal justice costs associated with illegal immigration exceed $89 million every year. The States of Arizona and New Mexico have declared states of emergency in order to provide local law enforcement with immediate assistance in addressing criminal activity along the border. It is time that the Federal Government step up and share some of this burden. 51. Pt. 17 October 17. 2005 We are making some headway in terms of increasing the number of Border Patrol agents along the border. Despite the fact that the administration only requested funding to hire an additional 210 Border Patrol agents in its 2006 Budget Request. Congress has appropriated enough funding to hire and train an additional 1.500 agents. We are making some progress. and I am pleased that additional agents have been sent to New Mexico. but we must face the reality that much more needs to be done and we are a long way off from securing our borders and preventing the illegal flow of drugs and undocumented person into this country. I believe that this is an area that Congress can. and should. be doing more. We need more Border Patrol agents. better technology. and a comprehensive strategy to meet our security needs. We also need to reform our broken immigration system so we are able to more effectively target those who pose a threat to our country. However. we must also remember the role local law enforcement play in responding to criminal activity that occurs in the border region. Increasing funding for local law enforcement will help border communities alleviate some of these problems and enhance security in the border region. Federal assistance is desperately needed to help border law enforcement agencies address the unique challenges that arise from being situated along an international border and the lack of overall border security. I urge my colleagues to lend their support to this important bill and give law enforcement the resources they need to meet these challenges. By Mr.