[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 39 (Wednesday, March 20, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E390-E392]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE COMPREHENSIVE SOUTHWEST BORDER
ENFORCEMENT STRATEGY
______
HON. ED PASTOR
of arizona
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, March 19, 1996
Mr. PASTOR. Mr. Speaker, as the House begins debate on an immigration
reform bill, I would like to take this opportunity to highlight the
Immigration and Naturalization Service's [INS] efforts to control
illegal immigration along the United States' southern border. The
administration has made the enforcement of our borders a high priority,
and for the first time in recent memory the INS has the resources to
seriously undertake this responsibility. Both Attorney General Janet
Reno and INS Commissioner Doris Meissner have made personal visits to
the border, with the Commissioner visiting Nogales, AZ, as recently as
last month. Commissioner Meissner and Attorney General Reno are to be
commended for their efforts at border enforcement, and I submit for the
Record an outline of the INS's successful comprehensive Southwest
border enforcement strategy.
The Immigration and Naturalization Service: Building a Comprehensive
Southwest Border Enforcement Strategy
I. Overview
The Clinton Administration has made control of illegal
immigration a top priority and has worked to provide the
Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) with the
resources necessary for an enforcement strategy that will
make a difference quickly and sustain itself over time. The
Administration focused immigration control efforts first on
the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexican border. Years of neglect had left
the Southwest border an open invitation to illegal
immigration. The INS did not have the personnel or the
equipment to properly control this important frontier.
For the first time, the Clinton Administration developed a
coherent strategy to restore the rule of law to the Southwest
border. This strategy is backed by adequate resources and
broad community support. The Administration's goal is
unambiguous: a border that deters illegal immigration, drug
trafficking, and alien smuggling and facilitates legal
immigration and commerce.
II. A Comprehensive Border Control Strategy
The international boundary between the United States and
Mexico divides two countries with dramatically different
economies, but many shared values, commercial interests and a
shared history. It is a border that runs through communities.
It is also a border that is used by migrants from Mexico and
around the world to enter the United States illegally. It is
a border that is today experiencing tremendous immigration
pressures.
INS developed a multi-year border enforcement strategy both
to facilitate legal travel and commerce between the United
States and Mexico, and to aggressively enforce the nation's
immigration laws. The plan is comprehensive, recognizing that
the various regions of the border are interconnected, and any
action on one part of the border affects conditions along
other parts of the border.
The Administration's border control plan has several key
objectives:
To provide the Border Patrol and other INS enforcement
divisions with the personnel, equipment and technology to
deter, detect and apprehend illegal aliens;
To regain control of major entry coordiors along the border
that for too long have been controlled by illegal immigrants
and smugglers;
To close off the routes most frequently used by smugglers
and illegal aliens and to shift traffic to areas that are
more remote and difficult to cross illegally, where INS has
the tactical advantage;
To tighten security and control illegal crossings through
ports of entry; and
To make our ports of entry work for regular commuters,
trade, tourists and other legitimate traffic across our
borders.
These objectives are essential to effectively deter illegal
immigration into the United States. The over-arching goal of
the strategy is to make it so difficult and so costly to
enter this county illegally that fewer individuals even try.
The Administration developed an ambitious plan to achieve
these objectives. It involved the strategic deployment of
resources, equipment and technologies in concentrated areas
of illegal activity. In the past, INS resources were spread
out along the length of the border. This deployment plan
diminished the effectiveness of Border Patrol agents,
vehicles and sensors. By contrast, INS first targeted
deployment of new resources to the San Diego and El Paso
sectors. These two sectors alone historically accounted for
approximately 65 percent of all Border Patrol apprehensions.
INS has also deployed significant new resources in Arizona.
This concentrated approach has enabled INS to gain a greater
degree of control in these two regions. As we regain control
in these areas, we are working to expand control to other
corridors of illegal entry.
iii. putting effective strategies into place
The 2,000-mile border contains many distinct areas with
wide-ranging topography, histories and crossing patterns. INS
designed strategies for each area consistent with the
comprehensive approach and the over-arching goal of deterring
illegal immigration.
INS began by concentrating resources in areas that have
long been major corridors for illegal immigration. The agency
launched Operation Hold the Line in El Paso, Operation
Gatekeeper in San Diego, and Operation Safeguard in Arizona.
INS has continued to strengthen these operations with new
agents, tightened enforcement at ports of entry, and a
crackdown on alien smugglers.
Operation Hold the Line
INS launched Operation Hold the Line in El Paso, Texas to
close the holes in what had become one of the most porous
areas of the U.S.-Mexican border. Before Operation Hold the
Line, 18 percent of all illegal crossers caught entering the
United States were apprehended in this area. INS redirected
54 Border Patrol agents to the Sector in FY 1994, and added
50 new agents in FY 1995 to support Operation Hold the Line.
With Operation Hold the Line, the Border Patrol developed a
high visibility strategy to deter illegal alien traffic into
El Paso. The strategy was based on the specific crossing
patterns, the characteristics of the illegal crossers in El
Paso, and the flat terrain of the region. The majority of
aliens apprehended by the Border Patrol in El Paso have
historically been commuters--traveling from Juarez, Mexico to
El Paso on a regular basis to work, shop or visit with
friends and relatives. Most tried to enter the United States
directly through downtown El Paso. Accordingly, the Border
Patrol focused on a strategy of deterring these crossers,
placing Border Patrol agents directly on the line at regular
intervals.
The Operation has proven to be tremendously effective.
Apprehensions in the sector dropped significantly. In
addition, the crime rate in downtown El Paso is down, and it
appears that many short-term illegal crossers have been
deterred from entering the United States. Traffic at the El
Paso ports of entry has risen, and INS has applied law
enforcement and facilitation strategies there.
At the same time, while many illegal crossers are deterred,
a number of more determined crossers are shifting their
routes of entry to the outskirts of El Paso. INS is
responding to these shifts in traffic by adding additional
agents to support outlying stations, building fences, and
providing agents with sophisticated equipment and
technologies to track and apprehend aliens who cross in
remote regions.
Operation Gatekeeper
For years, before the Administration launched Operation
Gatekeeper, the Border Patrol in San Diego fought a losing
battle. The border was overridden with illegal alien traffic.
Nearly 25 percent of all apprehensions along the U.S.-Mexican
border took place along the 5-mile stretch between San Diego
and Tijuana known as Imperial Beach. A 14-mile stretch in San
Diego--which includes Imperial Beach--has historically
accounted for as much as 40 percent of Southwest border
apprehensions. Before Operation Gatekeeper, illegal aliens
openly congregated on the U.S. side of the border while
waiting for an opportunity to head north. Many areas of
Imperial Beach belonged to smugglers, illegal aliens and
criminals who preyed on aliens and U.S. residents alike.
San Diego has historically been a main point of entry for
illegal crossers coming to the United States from the
interior of Mexico. Unlike El Paso, there are fewer
``commuters.'' The vast majority of illegal crossers are
highly motivated and try repeatedly to enter. Many hire
smugglers to help them evade the Border Patrol. The terrain--
a combination of rugged canyons, mountains, forest areas, and
mud flats, along with heavily
[[Page E391]]
populated communities almost directly on the border--makes
the work of the Border Patrol even more difficult.
On October 1, 1994, the Attorney General announced
Operation Gatekeeper, a coordinated effort by the INS, the
Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of
California and the Executive Office of Immigration Review.
Operation Gatekeeper was designed to use a multitude of tools
to increase INS' enforcement capacity in San Diego and to
address the specific challenges of the region.
The Clinton Administration deployed new agents, time-saving
equipment, state-of-the-art technology and an effective
strategy to begin to reclaim the border in San Diego. The
Operation sought first to control the 5-mile area of Imperial
Beach, and then to expand control eastward throughout the 66-
mile Sector. This strategy has proven effective, and
intensive enforcement efforts have shifted traffic east to
areas that are more remote and where the Border Patrol has
more of a tactical advantage.
As traffic has shifted away from Imperial Beach, INS has
continued to beef up the Border Patrol presence along the
remaining 61 miles of the San Diego Sector. However, illegal
immigrants have often resorted to hiring smugglers to help
them evade the Border Patrol. Others attempt to enter
illegally through a port of entry using a fraudulent
document. In May of 1995, INS launched Operation Disruption
to crack down on smugglers and close off smuggling routes.
The agency has also taken steps to tighten enforcement at
ports of entry in San Diego.
INS continues to fortify the entire San Diego border and
will strengthen the control achieved to date with substantial
new resources this fiscal year.
Operation Safeguard
Over the course of the last 2 years, as INS enhanced border
security in El Paso, Texas, and San Diego, California, INS
anticipated that traffic would shift to Arizona. By the end
of 1994, apprehensions in Arizona had climbed 59 percent
above the levels at the end of 1993.
The Department of Justice launched Operation Safeguard to
enhance the security of the Arizona border. INS detailed
agents to Arizona to handle the increase flow of illegal
alien traffic in the area until permanent agents could
arrive. The goal of the operation was to redirect illegal
crossings away from urban areas near the Nogales Port of
Entry to open areas that the Border Patrol can more easily
control. The Border Patrol used its enhanced force to deploy
agents almost directly on the line along the four critical
miles of the border. The agent deployment, combined with new
fencing, has allowed the Border Patrol to enhance control in
this critical area in Nogales.
Bridging Enforcement Across California and Arizona
On January 16, 1996, the Clinton Administration implemented
a new initiative to strengthen and link Operations Gatekeeper
and Operation Safeguard. INS accelerated the deployment of
new personnel and resources--including 200 detailed Border
Patrol agents, 40 detailed inspectors, and 60 special agent
investigators--to further deter illegal crossings into
California and Arizona.
The new initiative has three critical components:
First, with the addition of new equipment and personnel in
San Diego, INS will expand the area of control in San Diego
from Imperial Beach to Chula Vista to the east.
Second, INS has linked Operation Gatekeeper in California
with Operation Safeguard in Arizona. Through the use of
checkpoints and airport monitoring, the agency is closing off
routes used by illegal aliens and smugglers to evade the
Border Patrol in areas of heightened enforcement. As part
of this effort, the Department of Justice has strengthened
it current coordination with the military as the work at
the border on counter-drug enforcement activities in
California and Arizona.
Third, INS has been working closely with local law
enforcement and plans to formally establish a federal-local
partnership to enforce federal, state and local laws along
the border. Local law enforcement agencies across California
and Arizona will provide the Border Patrol and immigration
agents with assistance by providing transportation, security
and other support. The Justice Department will reimburse
local law enforcement agencies for the extra assistance they
provide INS in immigration enforcement.
iv. providing the border region with resources to effectively control
the border
Three years ago, the Border Patrol was understaffed and
gravely handicapped in its ability to patrol the front line.
Agents spent too much time on administrative duties, filling
out paperwork by hand or on manual typewriters. Agents were
often stranded because of broken-down vehicles, or left idled
with radios or other equipment in need of repair. A shortage
of vehicles forced agents to leave the line open during shift
changes--allowing illegal crossers to enter the United States
unimpeded at regular intervals during day and night. Too few
roads, inadequate lighting and too little fencing in key
crossing areas further hampered the work of the Border
Patrol.
Over the last 3 years, the Clinton Administration has used
every resource at its disposal to implement a plan that
brings the highest crossed corridors in key urban areas under
control. INS has deployed hundreds of new Border Patrol
agents. It has provided agents with advanced technologies to
catch illegal crossers and criminal aliens. Agents now have
state-of-the-art equipment and vehicles. The Federal
Government has built miles of roads and fences, and installed
lighting to enhance effectiveness across the border. Over the
course of this year, the INS will continue to strengthen the
border with new agents, inspectors, vehicles and other
equipment, fencing, lighting, and technology.
New Border Patrol Agents
In fiscal years 1994 and 1995, the Clinton Administration
sought and received funding for a total of 1,150 new Border
Patrol agents. Of these agents, more than 500 new agents have
been deployed in San Diego, more than 140 in the El Paso
Sector, with 510 agents going to Tucson, Del Rio, Laredo and
McAllen.
In FY 1996, 800 new Border Patrol agents are targeted for
assignment to the Southwest border. These enhancements will
increase the size and effectiveness of the Border Patrol. In
addition, 200 Border Patrol positions will be redeployed from
interior locations in the United States to further strengthen
the Border Patrol presence along the front lines of the
Southwest border. With the new agents to be added this
fiscal year, the Border Patrol force will have increased
by more than 40 percent in just over 3 years.
New Land Border Inspectors
INS hired 110 new land border inspectors with FY 1995
funding and will hire 536 new inspectors for ports of entry
along the Southwest border with FY 1996 funding. The
additional inspectors to be added this year will increase
current staffing levels by 50 percent--the most significant
port of entry staffing increase in the history of the agency.
These inspectors are crucial to facilitate legal traffic and
commerce and to tighten enforcement at our ports of entry
along the border. INS has an ambitious plan in place to
facilitate legal traffic through ports of entry along our
Southern and Northern borders. With new personnel and
technology, INS is taking steps and piloting programs to
reduce waiting times for people legally entering the United
States. These steps include designated commuter lanes, an
automatic entry system for pre-screened travelers, and other
improvements in our processing systems. These steps will
reduce the inconvenience of waiting to enter the United
States at our ports of entry without sacrificing the security
of our borders.
Vehicles and Equipment
Over the past 3 years, INS has expanded the fleet of Border
Patrol vehicles with the purchase of more than 1,500 new
vehicles and more than 900 replacement vehicles. INS will
continue to purchase two new vehicles for every three agents
hired. Now, with an adequate vehicle fleet, agents can change
shifts without sacrificing enforcement on the line and
without creating a window of opportunity for illegal
crossers.
Fencing the Roads
Over the past several years, INS, with the support of
military personnel and the National Guard, has built many
miles of fencing along the border to control drug
trafficking, alien smuggling, crime, and illegal immigration.
In San Diego, the Federal Government completed 7 miles of
fencing by 1993 and, with continued construction over the
last 3 years, there are now 23 miles of fencing in the
Sector. In Tucson, INS has started construction on a fence
project and in the Yuma, Arizona Sector, the agency has built
close to 6 miles of fencing.
With continued support, INS plans to build the following
new fences this year: 8 miles of fencing in the Campo Station
section of the San Diego Sector; 3 miles of fencing in El
Centro; 4.7 miles of fencing at the Nogales Station area in
the Tucson Sector, completing a project started this past
year; and 2.3 miles of fencing in El Paso--including a one-
mile fence in the Anapra/Sunland Park, New Mexico area and
1.3 miles at the Roadside Park area.
INS will build roads to access the fencing and along the
entire length of the fences, just as it has done in previous
fence construction.
Lighting
Over the past 2 years, lighting projects in areas of San
Diego have proven tremendously effective and have established
the need for additional border lighting. With brightly
shining lights, smugglers and illegal crossers cannot evade
detection by the Border Patrol or other law enforcement
personnel and it is harder for criminals to prey on victims
in the dark. In 1995, the San Diego Sector installed 5 miles
of lighting in the Imperial Beach Station, and other parts of
the Sector have utilized portable lights pending the arrival
of permanent fixtures.
This year, INS will install additional lighting in San
Diego and El Paso. The key areas to be lit are those east of
the San Ysidro Port of Entry stretching to the San Ysidro
mountains in San Diego; the Anapra/Sunland Park, New Mexico
area; and along the Franklin Canal in the El Paso Sector.
High Technology Support for Enforcement Operations
Over the past year, the Border Patrol has received state-
of-the-art technologies to support the detection and
apprehension of illegal crossers. Twenty-five infra-red
scopes were deployed in San Diego and El Paso and 105 sensors
were placed along crossing routes
[[Page E392]]
in San Diego, Tucson and Yuma, Arizona. The Border Patrol has
also been equipped with computer equipment to speed up the
time it takes to process illegal aliens--freeing up more
agents for work on the line.
In addition, INS deployed a valuable new tool on the
border: the IDENT system. This new technology is an automated
fingerprint identification system that allows INS, for the
first time, to readily identify criminal aliens, track
illegal crossing patterns, and collect recidivism data. Over
the past year, this system has been deployed in parts of
California, Arizona and Texas.
This year, we will make our agents even more effective with
the following new equipment:
Additional sensors for every sector along the Southwest
border to detect illegal traffic;
Portable radios for all new agents and new vehicles. In
addition, INS will install a new radio network in San Diego
to handle encrypted voice communication;
Infra-red scopes across the border, including 16 to the San
Diego Sector, 5 to the San Diego repair facility, 6 to El
Centro, 7 to Yuma, 10 to Tucson, 6 to El Paso, 5 to the El
Paso repair facility, 6 to Marfa, 15 to Del Rio, 4 to Laredo,
and 8 to McAllen;
New equipment and software for the Border Patrol's
computer-assisted dispatch system in San Diego; and
The complete deployment of IDENT to each of the sectors
along the Southwest border and the installation of IDENT
enhancements.
v. summary: a record of progress
The Clinton Administration has made clear progress to date.
Today, the border is harder to cross than at any time in
history. INS is advancing each of the key objectives of the
border control strategy. It has secured areas of the border
where just 2 years ago aliens freely crossed with impunity.
As it has closed off traditional traffic routes, forcing
illegal crossers to remote regions and to use longer and more
arduous routes. In short, INS is successfully raising the
cost and difficulty of entering the United States illegally.
Communities across the Southwest border are encouraged by the
measures we have taken to date.
The work that the Clinton Administration is doing on the
Southwest border is essential to restore the rule of law to
the region and to begin to control the problem of immigration
into the United States. However, to effectively control
illegal immigration, the Federal Government must remove the
magnet of illegal employment that draws illegal aliens to the
United States and must also protect our citizens from
criminal aliens.
This Administration is committed to fighting the problem of
illegal immigration on each of these fronts. INS is working
with unsurpassed commitment not just to control the border,
but also to back up border enforcement efforts with the
aggressive enforcement of immigration laws at the worksite,
tough penalties on criminal aliens who return to the United
States, and an aggressive program to remove criminal and
other illegal aliens from the United States. The agency is
now armed with new resources to eliminate the job magnet and
restore integrity to our immigration system. The measures
being taken, and the enforcement plan at work, will bring
greater security to the region and to the country for years
to come.
A Chronology of Progress on the Border: 1993-1996
March 1993--14-mile Fence Completed in the San Diego Sector
The San Diego fence, built with support of the military's
Joint Task Force 6, has rerouted illegal traffic, deterred
illegal entry and forced alien and drug smugglers to use
routes where the risk of apprehension is substantially
higher.
October 1993--Operation Hold the Line Launched in El Paso,
Texas
Operation Hold the Line employs an enhanced Border Patrol
unit to engage in linewatch operations in the metropolitan El
Paso area to effectively stop illegal immigration between El
Paso and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
October 1994--Operation Gatekeeper Launched in San Diego,
California
The Department of Justice deployed new agents, added
support staff to free additional agents to work on the line,
and provided the San Diego Sector with new technology,
including the prototype IDENT system, and equipment. INS uses
these and other new resources in an aggressive new strategy
to control illegal immigration into San Diego and to shift
traffic to areas where crossing is more difficult and the
risk of apprehension is greater.
October 1994--Operation Safeguard Launched in Arizona
Operation Safeguard utilizes a line-watching strategy, in
the Nogales and Douglas areas of Arizona. As part of the
Operation, and in order to channel illegal traffic to areas
of enhanced Border Patrol control, INS built part of a 4.7-
mile metal fence in the Nogales Station area in 1995.
January 1995--New Resources Deployed Across the Southwest
Border
With new resources in FY 1995, INS announced that it would
add 700 Border Patrol agents to the Southwest border to bring
the on duty force to 4,400. These new agents are supported
with new vehicles, equipment and technologies, and well as
new roads, fences and lighting.
May 1995--Operation Disruption Launched in San Diego
With the INS border crackdown in San Diego, INS launched
Operation Disruption to disrupt established alien smuggling
routes and to prevent smugglers from developing new avenues
for illegal entry into the United States.
June 1995--Phase II of Gatekeeper Launched in San Diego
Building on the success of Operation Gatekeeper, a second
phase was launched to respond to changes in traffic patterns
and to address smuggling. INS placed additional agents in
East County and tightened security at ports of entry. In
addition, the agency announced that it would maintain and
improve checkpoints north of San Diego and a new temporary
checkpoint in East County.
October 1995--Further Enhancements to Gatekeeper
Attorney General announced the detailing of agents to San
Diego to beef up enforcement in East County and to reinforce
Imperial Beach and other areas of San Diego. She also
announced that INS penalties for fraudulent document users,
new detention space to support the border crackdown, and the
appointment of Alan Bersin, the U.S. Attorney for the
Southern District of California, to be her Special
Representative for the southwest border to coordinate the
work of all Justice Department agencies, harness resources
from throughout the Federal Government, and work with state
and local law enforcement.
December 1995--IDENT Installed in Tucson, El Paso, McAllen,
Yuma
The IDENT prototype system deployment continued, expanding
in areas east of San Diego and bringing the useful
apprehension and analytic tool to more Border Patrol sectors
along the Southwest border. By March, all nine Southwest
sectors will have the IDENT prototype installed.
January 1996--Border Enhancements in California and Arizona
INS detailed 200 agents from Western, Central and Eastern
regions of the United States to sectors in California and
Arizona and 100 investigators/special agents as an advance
deployment of FY 1996 resources. These new agents, along with
improved coordination with the military and the support of
local law enforcement, will increase control and further
deter illegal immigration into the United States during a
period when immigration pressures from Mexico are high.
February 1996--FY 1996 resources are deployed to California,
Arizona and Texas
Department of Justice announced the deployment of new
resources to be directed to the Southwest border. These
include the addition of 1,000 Border Patrol agents to the
front line and the extension of the border strategy to gain
control of additional sections of the border where there is a
high level of illegal traffic--providing significant support
for San Diego, Tucson, and El Paso and McAllen, Texas.
____________________