The protection of US borders that has rolled into a crackdown on immigration will remain an issue for the foreseeable future. Manpower needed to administer security and dollars needed to fund technology research and development will stretch budgets; compromises will need to be made. The focus, however, needs to be on addressing, if not solving, homeland security deficiencies, not stirring up a politically-charged debate.
The US Border Patrol has the responsibility of protecting the 6,000 miles of US borders with the manpower equal to one tenth of the New York City Police Department. The challenge is great and has become a political issue in Congress.
Last week, nine committees began a traveling debate to 13 states with 21 hearings scheduled to reconcile two disparate immigration bills passed by the House and Senate. The committee hosts laid out the schedule (source). Kevin Smith, a spokesman for Representative John Boehner (R-OH), the House majority leader, said the House committee chairman had decided where the hearings would be held and that politics had played a role in the location of the hearings.
The House bill covers an enforcement-only measure to toughen security measures at US borders that includes building a fence between Mexico and the US. In May, the Senate passed a bill increasing border security and creating a guest-worker program, which offers a legal path to citizenship for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the US.
Critics view the meetings as lacking objectivity and as political motivations to win election year votes. While the southern border has unique issues, both borders are plagued with smugglers, in particular, who move drugs and humans. Cooperation with both neighbors will lead to enhanced security as was illustrated in Canada in June 2006 when officials broke an airborne drug smuggling ring, netting four tons of marijuana, 800 pounds of cocaine, $1.5 million in cash, and 46 individuals.
Since 1995, the Republican Congress has increased spending on border security and immigration enforcement?from $1.2 billion to $12.7 billion–and more than doubled the number of Border Patrol agents?from 5,000 to 12,000. However, illegal immigrants continue to flood across borders.
Politicians are finger pointing in an effort to distance themselves from the debate and to blame their opposition for the crisis. “Of course it’s not happenstance,” said Representative Jim Kolbe (R-AZ), who is not running for re-election. He said he would rather have House Republicans negotiating with the Senate for a compromise on immigration legislation rather than the hearings, like the one set for his district, where Republicans are battling to hold on to his seat. “They are very deliberately planned,” Kolbe said of the hearings, “A lot of Republicans are listening to a very shrill part of their base who are very loud about this issue and they believe that this translates into votes in the base.”
Jeff Lungren, a spokesman for the House Judiciary Committee said many of the hearings were being held in border states where border security and illegal immigration from Mexico were critical concerns among voters. “Policy is the substance of an issue,” said Lungren, “Politics is helping to explain the substance of it. The two go hand in hand.” However, border security is no place for political grandstanding. The issues surrounding tightened security are many, and the answer to the problem is to leave politics aside and focus on the ongoing challenge. Investments in resources, enhanced technology and manpower, and sufficient training are imperative.