Legislators urge Border Patrol to hire more agents

Fifty-five legislators, joined by Arizona residents from towns bordering Mexico, Wednesday urged the Clinton administration to make good on a congressional mandate that the U.S. Border Patrol add 1,000 agents this year, the Associated Press reported Thursday.

Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., accused the administration of failing to realize the severity of the problem and to take adequate action.

In a letter to President Clinton, Kolbe and his colleagues said there has been "deterioration, not improvement, in border security" in the past three months.

Immigration and Naturalization Service officials have said they cannot meet the 1,000 new agent requirement because many current agents are too new as a result of previous rapid expansion, and because of low pay and other recruitment problems.