Thread: Obama beefs up border security in 2011 budget

Obama beefs up border security in 2011 budget

The following report was written by Meredith Simons of the Washington bureau.

The Department of Homeland Security unveiled a $56.3 billion budget Monday that includes funding for the virtual border fence, E-Verify, and an increase in the number of border patrol officers and intelligence analysts along the southern border.

In a year in which President Obama has spoken about the need to "save what we can" to combat record deficits, some federal agencies are seeing programs trimmed or eliminated entirely, but DHS escaped the budgeting process unscathed. Obama's budget, which must be approved by Congress before it takes effect, asks for $6 billion more for DHS than the department received in FY 2010.

"Our proposed budget is designed to ensure we have the resources we need to secure America," said DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano. "We are committed to strong fiscal discipline, eliminating redundancy and investing our resources in what works while enhancing security across the board."

Obama's budget allots more money to DHS than it received last year, including billions that will be spent along the southwest border.

DHS officials say they are committed to fighting drug trafficking and cartel violence along the border. To that end, they've allotted $4.6 billion to funding 20,000 Border Patrol agents and completing the first section of a virtual border fence, which is being erected in Arizona. The increased personnel funding will allow the department to hire more officers and increase the salaries of those already on staff. It will also boost the number of border intelligence analysts and Border Enforcement Security Task Forces, which combine personnel from several federal law enforcement agencies to combat organized crime along the border.

On the immigration front, DHS has signaled a desire to "strengthen enforcement activities," particularly targeting "criminal aliens who pose a threat to public safety." The department has made it a goal to increase the number of criminal aliens expelled from the country by four percent over the next year and dedicated $1.6 billion to that effort. Some of that money will be directed toward the implementation of the Secure Communities initiative, which uses biometric data and a nationwide database to identify illegal aliens as soon as they enter the criminal justice system.

The budget also includes $110 million for the expansion of the E-Verify program, which allows employers to confirm their employees' eligibility for work in the U.S. online.

Posted By: Richard Dunham (Email) | February 01 2010 at 04:20 PM

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"Our proposed budget is designed to ensure we have the resources we need to secure America," said DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano. "We are committed to strong fiscal discipline, eliminating redundancy and investing our resources in what works while enhancing security across the board."

HIV testing is needed for all immigrants in our country. I was told by a Liberal Doctor friend just yesterday with tears in his eyes that the Haitians population has 40% HIV. Finally, he is realizing my side of the argument, which is "The United States" cannot take care of the entire world via immigration or monetarily.

I guess he was thinking only about $$$ MONEY, when he was wanting to turn "The United States" into a Third World Country.

WAKE UP AMERICANS!