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| Obama requests $600 million for border security |
| 2010-06-24 |
| The Obama administration formally asked Congress on Tuesday for $600 million in emergency funds to hire another 1,000 Border Patrol agents, acquire two drones and enhance security along the Southwest border. The money would also pay for an additional 160 Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and extra Border Patrol canine teams, according to a senior White House official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. In a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D- San Francisco), President Obama said his request "responds to urgent and essential needs" and asked that it be considered an emergency. "These amendments would support efforts to secure the Southwest border and enhance federal border protection, law enforcement and counter-narcotics activities," Obama wrote. The president's request also would provide money for extra FBI task forces, Drug Enforcement Administration agents, prosecutors and immigration judges. The 1,000 extra Border Patrol agents would amount to a 5% staffing increase. The patrol has doubled in size since 2004, to 20,000. Some of the money would go to help Mexican authorities, such as with ballistic and DNA analysis, the White House official said. Border states are concerned that violence from Mexico's drug war will spill into the United States. Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, who met with Obama last month after signing a law making it a state crime to be in the country illegally, has called her state "the gateway to America for drug trafficking, extortion, kidnapping and crime." She has blamed the federal government for failing to secure the border and has lobbied for stepped-up law enforcement resources and unmanned aircraft. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #6 watch the hands, not the mouth. These agents will be stationed in Idaho or Virginia or issued totally handcuffing ROE. He has no interest in securing the border, and once re-elected, neither does Juan McCain |
| Posted by: Frank G 2010-06-24 18:10 |
| #5 "Sir! The border of the US is Open!" "The US Open?, which channel?" |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2010-06-24 13:04 |
| #4 I was thinking the same thing, but the price also includes a lot of extraneous stuff. But I bet it doesn't include tall fences and barbed wire. |
| Posted by: ed 2010-06-24 13:00 |
| #3 600,000 per job extorted from employers and employees? Sounds like another "stimumess". |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2010-06-24 12:54 |
| #2 This is thoroughly infuriating. Obama launches a lawsuit against Arizona, which sits on the front-line of this potential "border war" and has the greater potential to protect U.S. citizens once SB 1070 is implemented, and then turn around and ask those citizens (through their elected representatives) to throw their hard-earned money at a FAILED federal government policy for border security. 600 million? I smell a rat here, beyond the usual fraud, waste, and abuse. Extra prosecutors and immigration judges? Really? Oh, some of the money will go to Mexico for (trying not to laugh) DNA analysis and ballistics? What good will DNA evidence do them when the bad guys never go to trial (as if their justice system is worth a nickel) and ballistics... what's that gonna prove? That the bullets are traced right back to a gun shop in Virginia or right back to la policia en Sinaloa. God damn, can somebody please tell me where James Polk has been re-incarnated so we can get that someone in the White House RIGHT AWAY!! |
| Posted by: Following the Leader 2010-06-24 11:36 |
| #1 Meanwhile on the border: Nogales AZ police at disadvantage in fighting drug smugglers To keep up with drug smugglers, Captain Zuniga says officers need a faster and higher caliber rifle that can penetrate their top notch bullet proof vests. Still, their disadvantage doesn't end there. The department's two-way radio system often experiences dead-spots. And because its not incripted, drug smugglers can and do tune in to identify officers and to track their positions. Nogales police says they are currently applying for a $3 million grant. If granted, the money would be used to build a new police station. The police station also plans to apply for grant money to buy new police equipment. Nogales police say more budget cuts are expected. They say border crime has scared away shoppers and less tax revenues means less money for police. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2010-06-24 02:29 |