More cash for border gets OK

Web Posted: 03/12/2007 11:12 PM CDT

Peggy Fikac
Austin Bureau

AUSTIN — The state would pour $102 million more into additional border law officers, helicopters, equipment and technology over the next two years under a plan backed Monday by House budget-writers.
The plan, pushed by GOP Gov. Rick Perry, was endorsed after budget-writers met with Perry's staff to get more proposal details, which some had said were lacking.

Despite continuing concerns from some, Monday's action puts the border plan into the overall budget the Appropriations Committee will vote on later this month and send to the full House for consideration.

Approval came with a push from Democratic border lawmakers and Republicans who say their constituents support tighter border security. Many portrayed it as a crime-fighting necessity rather than a tool against illegal immigration.

"Drugs. Carjackings. Auto theft. Kidnapping. Those are the things that we're looking to fend against here, not necessarily immigration," said Rep. Eddie Lucio III, D-Brownsville.

Rep. Jim Jackson, R-Carrollton, voiced the same support from a different vantage point.

"As one who's not a border person and is several hours removed from there, I think everything we read tells us that local law enforcement are outmanned and outgunned on the border," Jackson said.

"I think the people that I represent — far removed from the border — would like to stop it as much as possible at the border before it gets to us, No. 1," he said. "And No. 2, we feel an obligation to those United States citizens there at the border that are being threatened by this unlawful conduct."

The proposal was approved without objection, although some still looked askance at the cost. Rep. Rick Noriega, D-Houston, described himself as "a little bit dismayed by the lack of professional planning" that he said went into the numbers.

"Had someone said $200 million, would we be looking for $200 million? If someone had said $50 million, would we have been looking for $50 million?" Noriega asked.

Rep. Warren Chisum, a Pampa Republican who is Appropriations chairman, defended the figures, saying, "These are not just shoot-from-the-hip dollars. There's been a lot of thought go into them."

The proposal would fund 300 new commissioned officers for local law enforcement departments; 51 new Department of Public Safety troopers; nine DPS pilots; 15 game wardens; more training, equipment and vehicles; four helicopters; overtime pay; and border camera technology.

Chisum said increased tracking of border activity could help Texas make its case for more federal dollars, saying with others that securing the border and controlling immigration are federal responsibilities that the federal government is failing to do.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/ ... f7be4.html