Senators: Border Crime Fight Lacks Cash
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The Obama administration's beefed-up efforts to fight violence on the Southwest border is not the last word, the head of the Homeland Security Department told the Senate on Wednesday.
Several senators questioned whether the administration's plan can be successful without more money and people. The administration announced Tuesday that it was sending hundreds of federal agents, along with high-tech surveillance gear and drug-sniffing dogs to the Southwest border.
It was largely relying on existing funds and resources at the departments of Homeland Security and Justice for the increased effort. It also includes $700 million that Congress has already approved to support Mexico's efforts to fight the drug cartels.
The cartel turf wars have claimed more than 7,000 lives in the last 15 months, CBS News correspondent Seth Doane reports. That reign of terror bleeds over into Southwest U.S. border cities like Phoenix, where there were more than 400 drug-related kidnappings and home invasions last year.
"I believe this will be an ongoing issue," Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.
The border security initiative, which expands on efforts begun during the Bush administration, is aimed at drug traffickers who have wreaked havoc in Mexico in recent years and are blamed for a spate of kidnappings and home invasions in some U.S. cities.
"I think you're going to need more resources to get the job done," Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., told Napolitano. Lieberman said he plans to ask the Senate Budget Committee to include an additional $380 million toward this Southwest border plan in the 2010 federal budget.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., echoed Lieberman's push for more money.
"I can't think of a better use of our time and public dollars," Graham said.
Among the moves the government is making:
Sending about 350 additional personnel from the Homeland Security Department for a host of border-related work, including doubling the border enforcement security teams that combine local, state and federal officers.
Adding 16 new Drug Enforcement Administration positions in the southwestern region. DEA currently has more than 1,000 agents working in the region.
Sending 100 more people form the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to the border in the next 45 days.
Boosting the FBI's intelligence and analysis work on Mexican drug cartel crime.
Increasing the inspection of rail cargo heading from the U.S. into Mexico and putting X-ray units in place to try to detect weapons being smuggled into Mexico.
© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Several senators questioned whether the administration's plan can be successful without more money and people. The administration announced Tuesday that it was sending hundreds of federal agents, along with high-tech surveillance gear and drug-sniffing dogs to the Southwest border.
It was largely relying on existing funds and resources at the departments of Homeland Security and Justice for the increased effort. It also includes $700 million that Congress has already approved to support Mexico's efforts to fight the drug cartels.
The cartel turf wars have claimed more than 7,000 lives in the last 15 months, CBS News correspondent Seth Doane reports. That reign of terror bleeds over into Southwest U.S. border cities like Phoenix, where there were more than 400 drug-related kidnappings and home invasions last year.
"I believe this will be an ongoing issue," Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.
The border security initiative, which expands on efforts begun during the Bush administration, is aimed at drug traffickers who have wreaked havoc in Mexico in recent years and are blamed for a spate of kidnappings and home invasions in some U.S. cities.
"I think you're going to need more resources to get the job done," Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., told Napolitano. Lieberman said he plans to ask the Senate Budget Committee to include an additional $380 million toward this Southwest border plan in the 2010 federal budget.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., echoed Lieberman's push for more money.
"I can't think of a better use of our time and public dollars," Graham said.
Among the moves the government is making:
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Posted by republic1776
Because seizing people's property while claiming it was purchased with drug money without having to offer any proof to back up those accusations has proved to be a lucrative source of funding for local police departments.
Posted by ivehadit9 a
f the Manager's Amendment (SA 4188), offered by Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), to S. 2611, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006. The Manager's Amendment made many minor changes to S. 2611, none of have significant numeric impacts on the overall bill. However, the Manager's Amendment included a provision that requires consultation with the government of Mexico concerning the construction of additional fencing and related border security structures along the international border between the United States and Mexico. This would virtually guarantee that the fence along the U.S.-Mexico border would never be completed. The Manager's Amendment passed by a vote of 56 to 41 to 1 (the 1 denotes a "present" vote).
Posted by bajajohn1 at 11:07 AM : Mar 25, 2009
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And it worked, did it??? When the Berlin Wall was still in place, how many East Germans managed to cross it??? Not 12 million, not even 1,000, although certainly a few East Germans managed to cross it. Nothing is absolute.
In our own situation, it 's not about communism. It's about border security. It's about national security and preserving the sovereignty of the United States.
The US gov't is going to have to face it .. to secure the border is going to require building fences, walls and towers to monitor the fences and walls, especially with the fact that the drug cartels seem to be on the road to taking over mexico in form if not fact. We need to start truly securing that border NOW.
And to the "pro-immigrant" faction .... a wall won't stop immigrants ... just illegal aliens and I for one DO see a differnce between the two.
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Wow, 7,000 lives in 15 mos.. That's thousands more than the number of troops killed, in the 6 years we've been invading Iraq. And it's not only confined in Mexico, but it's spilling over into US soil and even into Canadian soil.
This is precisely why we need a Berlin Wall-type barrier on our border. Unless we elect a president who is anti-illegal immigration and pro-enforcement, that barrier will never be realized. That smirky idiot Bush dragged his feet until the end of his term and NEVER bothered to consider securing our borders, even after he signed the Secure Fence Act into law in 2006. Now, Obama might be doing the same thing - dragging his feet.
I thought that amnesty debate of 2007 has sent us a clear and convincing message to be very careful in choosing a candidate who's not pandering to the interests of Mexico and the illegal aliens. I heeded that message, so I voted for Mitt Romney during the primary.
Walls and fences, isn't that something that Communist Russia once did?