Third. where mountains and rugged terrain make completion of a double fence impossible. we need to have a virtual fence. Congress needs to appropriate more money for infrared cameras that enable agents to see the entire border. Finally. we need more border patrol agents. Although Congress has tripled the number of border patrol agents since the late 1980s. more are still needed. Mr. Speaker. one million illegal immigrants come to America legally each year. and my staff members spend the majority of their time helping those who want to come to our country to work hard and play by the rules. E 1900 We are protected from dangerous people entering the country at our airports. IDs are checked against the terrorist watch list and baggage is screened. Well. who is doing the checks on the 8.000 people who arrive here illegally every day? Who is our last line of defense? It is a Border Patrol agent in a green uniform working alone. At 2 a.m. tonight. after all of us are asleep. he will be working somewhere near the top of a cold 5.000foot mountain along the CaliforniaMexican border. He will get a radio call telling him February 1. 2006 CONGR to approach a group of illegals who have been spotted by an infrared scope and are located near the top of that mountain. He will track their footprints in the dirt and make his way toward them. As he approaches. there Is something he doesnt know: Are these illegal aliens a group of harmless teenagers who are scared and freezing. or are they heavily armed and dangerous drug traffickers. like the ones who have killed so many of his colleagues? Either way. he will approach them. because it is another day on the job. Mr. Speaker. I have a message for that Border Patrol agent working tonight: the United States Congress knows you are there. we appreciate your service. and help is on the way.
Identified stereotypes
Illegal immigrants are either harmless teenagers or heavily armed drug traffickers.