Mr. Chairman. to the distinguished gentleman that offered the amendment. that is why we have suggested that we can work on these Issues in a bipartisan manner. I think you have a very reasonable amendment. and might I just say that the National Border Patrol Council supports this amendment because it involves officer and public safety. Since early last year. the Border Patrol uniforms. including the patches. the identifying patches. have been made outside of the country. It would be quite simple for someone to bribe a lowpaid factory worker or truck driver in order to procure a quantity of uniforms for the purpose of masquerading as a Border Patrol agent. Obviously this makes sense. and that is why part of the problem with the underlying bill is. frankly. that it is weighted down by the criminalizing of the undocumented and not focusing on the criminalizing of the criminals. This. in fact. is a very instructive amendment because it helps to ensure the sanctity of the Border Patrol officers uniform and their work. Inasmuch as the Border Patrols work is done at night and lowlight surroundings. it would be nearly impossible for the genuine Border Patrol agents to spot the imposters until they were close enough to harm the agents if they had a false uniform. Likewise. members of the public could easily be fooled into believing that the imposters had authority to stop and question them. and they could perpetrate crimes. Mr.
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undocumented Border Patrol