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The House Homeland Security Committee on Thursday approved a sweeping bill that would stiffen the nation's border security.

The 2005 Border Security and Terrorism Prevention Act (H.R. 4312) authorizes the hiring of 8,000 more Border Patrol agents and 1,000 new inspectors at ports of entry over the next four years. It also would allow for the addition of 32,000 beds to detain illegal immigrants and the construction of more physical barriers along the border.

The act requires increased use of military surveillance technology along the borders. Starting next October, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau would have to detain all illegal aliens.

Union leaders, however, said the bill falls short because it does not merge two of the Homeland Security Department's law enforcement agencies and fails to give border inspectors the status of law enforcement officers. It also does not provide for stronger enforcement of laws barring employers from knowingly hiring illegal aliens or address the economic roots of illegal immigration, union members said.

"This is kind of like chicken soup," said T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council. "It doesn't hurt, but does it help?

"I would hope this is not the flagship bill that the House is considering to secure our borders, because it does very little," he added.

Under the bill, DHS and the Defense Department would need to develop a plan to provide the Border Patrol with Defense surveillance assets, such as unmanned aerial vehicles.

DHS also would have to submit a national strategy to Congress within a year after the bill is passed "to achieve operational control over all ports of entry into the United States and the international land and maritime borders of the United States."

In addition, the act would require DHS to report on the progress of cross-border security agreements signed with Mexico and Canada.

And the bill would place DHS' Air and Marine Operations division directly under the authority of the secretary, in the hopes of creating "a more flexible, coordinated air program capable of providing tracking, deterrence, rapid response, and investigative support to multiple DHS agencies."

"We must establish operational control of our borders and swiftly remove illegal immigrants once they arrive," said committee chairman Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y. "The time to act is now."

Democrats on the committee introduced several amendments that either failed by vote or were withdrawn.

An amendment by Rep. Kendrick Meek, D-Fla., called for merging Customs and Border Protection and ICE; it was withdrawn.

The department's inspector general issued a controversial report earlier this week citing numerous problems between CBP and ICE and calling for the two agencies to be merged.

"The department's inspector general's recent report has identified problems in organization, management, information sharing and operations that prevent CPB and ICE from efficiently and effectively carrying out their responsibilities for enforcing our laws and protecting the American people," Meek said.

DHS, however, is opposed to a merger. Department officials say many of the issues cited in the IG report were the result of financial problems at ICE and say most of the problems are being addressed. The current organizational structure should be given more time to succeed, they argue.

Meek withdrew his amendment because it was apparent it would not pass and because he was assured by King that the committee would continue to examine whether the agencies should be merged.

The bill, however, requires the department's secretary "to take immediate action to address the inefficiencies and poor communication between [ICE and CBP]."

The act also would require a review of the One Face at the Border program within CBP.

"This will be the first, comprehensive review of the program, which we are confident will show that the security of this nation depends on Congress doing away with the One Face program," said John Gage, president of the American Federation of Government Employees.

An amendment offered by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, to give CBP personnel the status of law enforcement officers also failed. Law enforcement officers are eligible to retire earlier than standard federal employees, and with more generous annuities. Unions argue that CBP officers are uniformed, carry guns and have arrest power, so they should have the same benefits as other federal law enforcement officers.

In early November, some Republican House and Senate lawmakers released a joint concept paper which seeks to bring pay parity to federal law enforcement, including CBP officers. Unions said they oppose the proposal, however, because too much decision-making power is given to the Office of Personnel Management.

The border security bill now must be approved by the House Judiciary and Armed Services committees.

COMMENTS

• The problem with securing our borders and the split between ICE and CBP lies with the misconception that one can isolate border enforcement and interior enforcement. The powers to be suggest that the Secure Border Initiative (SBI) is the answer by placing border security under the control of CBP and interior enforcement with ICE. What the leaders of DHS fail to realize is that DHS (both CBP and ICE) is responsible for border-related crimes and violence that cannot be lumped into two distinct arenas such as are proposed. It is one and the same. Crimes committed across/near/around the border create and result in the problems seen in the interior. Criminal organizations are located in border areas, major cities and rural towns. What the department needs is not to separate the two but to delineate the roles and responsibilities of ICE and CBP. My solution is very simple. CBP’s role is from observation of suspicious activity through interdiction. ICE’s role is to take CBP’s interdictions and investigate and dismantle the criminal organizations responsible for the border related crime and end with successful convictions of all those involved. That is the way to secure the border, have a seamless interdiction, investigation and prosecution, not two vague areas of enforcement (interior versus border)! ICEd over Posted November 29, 2005 8:30 AM
• History reflects that the creation of CBP Air (legacy Customs Air & Marine Operations) largely arose because former secretary, Tom Ridge, purportedly did not want three separate air forces (Coast Guard, Customs, and Border Patrol) within the Department. This concept was hatched in the spirit and intent of the catch all phrase “efficiency.” Changes of this nature generally have positive and negative outcomes. They also generate unintended consequences. When DHS decided to consolidate aviation resources, I am hopeful that the intent was not to place the preponderance of resources with one component at the mutual exclusion of other components and DHS partners. Today, the headlines of the press have border security on the public radar screen. Principally, a Border Patrol mission. Two months ago, relief efforts associated with Hurricanes Katrina and Rita captivated the attention of the government and its citizens. Clearly a FEMA mission. Tomorrow, it could be a national special security event, which falls under the purview of the Secret Service. Therefore, the largest law enforcement air force in the world should be managed and operated at the department level and not at an agency level. This will allow unbiased access to all DHS components and partners. Once again, the legislatures get it right!! The only thing missing is merging CBP and ICE. Joe Customs - 1789 GovExec.com reader Posted November 18, 2005 7:42 PM
• This bill, which was introduced by Congressman Peter King, originally included a section in its draft form to merge ICE and CBP into one new agency under the Bureau of Border Security and Customs (BSC), thereby eliminating ICE and CBP as they currently exist. Furthermore, under the new BSC bureau, Immigration Enforcement and Customs Enforcement would have been separated into two separate divisions, which makes perfect sense as they never should have been lumped together in the first place. The draft form of this bill, therefore, offered a tremendous glimmer of hope, and actually the only hope ICE employees have had yet since our creation. Sadly, but true to form with how everything else has gone under DHS and ICE, this portion of the draft bill was removed prior to the introduction of H.R. 4312. Unfortunately, this was the only portion of the bill that actually would have produced some noticeable and beneficial changes under DHS, so now H.R. 4312 is effectively useless. GovExec.com reader Posted November 22, 2005 2:18 PM