http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_3586870

Senate panel approves plan to hire 10,000 more border officers
By Mason Stockstill, Staff Writer



A Senate committee signed off on a plan for hiring thousands of new Border Patrol officers while eliminating a plan to build 700 miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico divide.

The Judiciary Committee agreed on a plan to add roughly 10,000 agents to the ranks of Customs and Border Protection over the next five years. It also adopted an amendment from Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., to replace old fences only in high-population areas along the Arizona border, and required the detention of non-Mexican immigrants caught illegally crossing the border, ending the so-called "catch and release" policy.

Kyl's proposal includes funding for the increased use of technology such as video cameras and infrared sensors to stop border-crossers, rather than extending the 15-foot-high fencing already in place in San Diego and elsewhere.

"It's important that we target our limited resources to the critical sectors of our country that will result in the greatest impact to stopping the flow of illegal crossings," Kyl said in a statement. "Providing the Tucson and Yuma sectors with fencing and vehicle barriers will accomplish exactly that."

The committee is reviewing border security legislation passed in December by the House of Representatives. That bill, H.R. 4437, included provisions requiring companies to verify their employees are in the country legally, increased fines for hiring undocumented workers, and made it a crime to assist an illegal immigrant in any way.

The Senate is expected to loosen the tougher restrictions passed by the House. Additionally, the Senate version of the bill includes a guest-worker program and a plan to let millions of illegal immigrants already in the country gain legal status.

Senators had clashed over whether the 700 miles of fencing would be an effective deterrent to would-be illegal immigrants. Texas Republican John Cornyn said such a barrier would cost billions of dollars and send a "dramatically negative message" about the nation's attitude toward its neighbors.

Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said he supported the idea of a fence along the border. The technology components are just a "detection device," and not a true barrier, he said.

The vehicle barriers in the amendment adopted Thursday would be concrete and steel posts spaced several feet apart. The barriers -- many of which are already in place along the border -- stop cars from crossing but cause less disruption to wildlife than a fence would.

The committee also adopted an amendment requiring the detention of non-Mexican illegal immigrants caught crossing the border. Under the "catch and release" policy, those border-crossers were released with an order requiring them to appear at an immigration hearing, because detention facilities are typically too full to hold them all. Supporters said it would close a loophole that allows illegal immigrants to ignore those court appearances and slip into the country undetected.

Rep. Sessions, who sponsored the proposal, said the government's current practice makes "a mockery" of the nation's laws against illegal immigration.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff promised late last year that the practice would end, and that those aliens would instead be deported to their home countries more quickly.

Estimates of the number of illegal immigrants in the United States range from 10 million to 15 million. More than half of them are from Mexico, and about 25 percent live in California, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.

The president first proposed a temporary worker program in 2004, saying it would reduce illegal immigration while maintaining the labor supply provided by migrants.

The committee will address the visa and guest-worker proposal next week. Majority Leader Bill Frist has said he wants the bill to reach the floor of the Senate by March 27.

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You know what this means, folks. Write your Senators and tell them that you want the fence and all that comes with it. The felony charges for illegal immigrants and their supporters, immediate deportation, military and police with immigration enforcement authority, the whole nine yards.

The House supported us and the Senate stabbed us in the back.

Yeah, we get 10,000 more border guards over 5 YEARS. Half of this country will be part of Mexico by then. Will it send a "negative" message to Mexico? WHO CARES! They obviously don't care what Americans think of them!