Gallegly Seeks to Expand Border Patrol

Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) on Thursday introduced more legislation to control illegal aliens--a bill to provide an additional 2,000 Border Patrol agents hired from the ranks of displaced military personnel.

The measure, similar to a Gallegly-sponsored bill that died in the last Congress, was partly inspired by defense budget cuts that have led to early discharges for both enlisted personnel and officers, the congressman said.

“Clearly, with more than 3 million more illegal aliens entering our country this year, we need to significantly boost Border Patrol staffing,” Gallegly said in a statement.

John Frith, a Gallegly spokesman in Washington, said the legislation calls for hiring military personnel who were subject to involuntary--but honorable--discharges and who have the appropriate skills to handle a Border Patrol position.

Gallegly is a candidate for reelection in the new 23rd Congressional District, which encompasses all of Ventura County except Thousand Oaks.

One of Gallegly’s opponents in the Republican primary, Daphne Becker of Ojai, accused the congressman of sidestepping more important issues.

“He’s just trying to make immigration an issue in this campaign to divert public attention at election time from his poor congressional record,” Becker said. “The issue is that we have professional politicians who are not representing us well.”

Last year, the congressman introduced a controversial package of bills designed to tighten controls over illegal immigration, including a constitutional amendment that would deny U. S. citizenship to American-born children of illegal aliens.

Longtime civil rights advocate Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Los Angeles) announced his support for the amendment this week. He is running for reelection in a new Republican-leaning district that covers Thousand Oaks and the westernmost portions of Los Angeles County.

Beilenson is a co-sponsor of Gallegly’s new Border Patrol bill.

“He feels we should be able to protect our borders,” said Kay Van Horn, a Beilenson spokeswoman in Los Angeles.

Dr. Robert A. Shakman of Ventura, the other Republican challenging Gallegly in the Republican primary, could not be reached for comment.

Anita Perez Ferguson, an education consultant who recently moved to Oxnard from Santa Barbara and who is one of two candidates facing off in the district’s Democratic primary, was en route to Washington and could not be reached for comment.

The other Democratic primary candidate, Kevin Sweeney of Ventura, declined to comment on the Border Patrol bill until he had a chance to study it. He was reached in Connecticut.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service has about 4,900 Border Patrol agents stationed throughout the nation, with the vast majority along the U. S.-Mexican border, said Virginia Kice, an INS spokeswoman.

“The INS already is working with the Pentagon to see what we can do to find placement for early military retirees,” Kice said.

She said the agency is in the middle of a major hiring push because the U. S. attorney general recently authorized the Border Patrol to hire an additional 300 agents by the end of September.