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Editorial: Securing the borders responsibility of U.S.
Web Posted: 03/25/2005 12:00 AM CST
San Antonio Express-News

At their Wednesday summit in Waco, President George W. Bush, President Vicente Fox of Mexico and Prime Minister Paul Martin of Canada pledged increased cooperation on economic and security issues.

The leaders also candidly acknowledged their disagreements about issues ranging from missile defense to immigration.

In all, it was a display of the healthy relations among the three North American nations.

The United States must work cooperatively with its neighbors to address common issues of concern. America's borders must be open to trade and legal immigration.

A comprehensive solution to the immigration problem and border security, for instance, will require lessening the economic disparities between the United States and Mexico that draw so many people northward.

National security, however, ultimately is an American responsibility.

A key provision of last year's intelligence overhaul was the addition of 10,000 full-time Border Patrol agents over five years.

In his budget proposal for 2006, Bush only funded 210 new agents. The Senate voted last week to raise that number to 2,000 and follow the previous blueprint. Texas Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn supported the increase.

That decision was made as the Pew Hispanic Center released a report suggesting that the undocumented population of the United States now numbers 11 million people, up from just more than 8 million only five years ago.

If our national leaders are serious about border security, they'll work with our neighbors to the north and south, but they'll also commit the resources necessary in the United States to tackle the problem.