Lawmakers in El Paso today to strengthen border security
By Brandi Grissom / Austin Bureau
Article Launched: 07/09/2008 12:00:00 AM MDT



AUSTIN -- State lawmakers looking to make Texas safer will be in El Paso today to learn about border security, illegal immigration and efforts to create secure identification.

"Border communities such as El Paso have the most to win or lose by the right or wrong approach to border security," said state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, a member of the Texas Senate Committee on Transportation and Homeland Security.

The committee will meet at 8 a.m. at the El Paso Public Library. The focus will be on developing a combined approach to border security in Texas, said Steven Polunsky, spokesman for the committee chairman, state Sen. John Carona, R-Dallas.

Local, state and national experts on border security and immigration will talk about how current state-led efforts are working and what more the state can do. Lawmakers will also hear about challenges the state faces in implementing federal REAL ID requirements.

Last year, Texas lawmakers set aside more than $110 million for border security.

Richard Wiles, former El Paso police chief and a current candidate for county sheriff, said the operations have worked well. He plans to urge lawmakers to increase funding for departments on the border but refrain from tying the dollars to immigration enforcement.

Some lawmakers last year proposed requiring local officers to get training in federal immigration enforcement in order to receive grant money for border security.

Wiles and other police chiefs opposed the effort because
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they said their departments didn't have the resources to take on that responsibility.

"That should be left up to the federal government," he said.

The committee will also discuss how Texas can develop secure identification cards and driver licenses that meet federal guidelines under the REAL ID Act.

Every state, including Texas, requested and received extensions of the initial May deadline to meet the requirements. State officials are concerned about the cost of the project and potential security risks.

But eventually residents of states that don't meet the requirements could be unable to use their state-issued ID to board a plane or enter other secure federal buildings.

The extension is good until at least December 2009.

The Texas Department of Public Safety estimates that implementing REAL ID could cost about $129 million the first two years and an additional $51 million each year after.

"The federal government is mandating a federal identity card," Shapleigh said, "but has appropriated no money to pay for it."

Brandi Grissom may be reached at bgrissom@elpasotimes.com; 512-479-6606.


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