Thread: President Obama wants $600 million more for U.S.-Mexican Bor

President Obama Wants $600 Million More for U.S.-Mexican Border

June 22, 2010 10:23 PM


In a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., sent earlier today, President Obama requested that $600 million be spent to "support efforts to secure the Southwest border and enhance Federal border protection, law enforcement, and counternarcotics activities," including the deployment of 1,200 National Guardsmen along the US-Mexican border, as the president previously announced.

A White House official said the money would in part help "support a vigorous battle against the drug cartels along the Southwest border."

The president requested that the "proposals be considered as emergency requirements," meaning they would not be subject to Congress's pay-as-you-go requirements. The president proposed that $100 million of the request be re-directed from finds previously authorized for the SBInet (Secure Border Initiative) program that Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is currently reviewing.

Funding for the National Guard deployment is also coming from a pre-existing $135 million in the Pentagon and DHS budgets.

DHS will receive an additional $399 million to fund:
• 1,000 new Border Patrol agents ($297 million);
• 160 new Immigration and Customers Enforcement agents ($52.5 million);
• two new unmanned aerial detection systems ($37 million);
• 30 new Customs and Border Protection officers ($6.5 million); and
• 20 new CBP canine teams ($6 million).

The Justice Department will receive an additional $201 million to fund:
• seven ATF Gunrunner Teams;
• six FBI Hybrid Task Forces;
• additional DEA agents, equipment, and operational support;
• additional attorneys and immigration judges;
• additional detention and incarceration resources for criminal illegal immigrants;
• Mexican law enforcement operations with ballistic analysis, DNA analysis, information sharing, technical capabilities, and technical assistance.

-- Jake Tapper

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch ... rder-.html

I suspect this is in response to Kyl and McCain's claims that Obama is holding the border hostage until he gets amnesty.

BTW, where are those 1200 National Guard troops he promised weeks ago?