Nominee for INS Chief Says She Will Study Border Crossing Fee : Immigration: At confirmation hearing, Doris M. Meissner says she is not philosophically opposed to using a levy to pay for more agents. The Senate panel is expected to endorse her for the post.

President Clinton’s nominee to head the Immigration and Naturalization Service said during her confirmation hearing Thursday that she would consider levying a border crossing fee and using the revenue to hire more agents to patrol the U.S.-Mexican border.

Doris M. Meissner, who promised to study the proposal at the request of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), also discussed other plans for cracking down on illegal immigration that won her bipartisan support from the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is expected to endorse her nomination.

Meissner, praised by committee members for her long experience with immigration problems--including two years as acting commissioner during the Ronald Reagan Administration--said the best way to reduce illegal immigration is “prevention at the point of entry.”

She said the Clinton Administration hopes to beef up enforcement of immigration laws by adding up to 600 Border Patrol officers. In addition, military units employing high-technology devices will continue to be used in a support role, primarily to detect illegal immigrants trying to cross the border, she said.

In pushing her border fee idea, Feinstein told Meissner about a recent visit to the San Ysidro border crossing, where she said a shortage of officers left half of 24 gates unstaffed. “Motorists were delayed 1 1/2 hours by the backup of traffic,” she said.

Feinstein suggested that a border crossing fee of perhaps $1 a car might provide enough funds for more Border Patrol officers.

“I have no philosophical opposition to a fee,” Meissner replied. “I am perfectly willing to look at the issue,” she said, adding that the principal problem would be “finding a practical way of collecting the money.”

Meissner, a former senior staff member of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, also said the federal government should continue to penalize employers who hire workers in the United States illegally.

She acknowledged that many committee members have reservations about the system--both in terms of its effectiveness and whether it unfairly burdens employers by casting them in the role of enforcement officers. Although the law penalizes employers who knowingly hire illegal workers, Feinstein and others said false documentation purchased by some undocumented workers is difficult to detect.

“I do feel we need workplace enforcement,” Meissner testified, saying companies that hire illegal immigrants are often in violation of other federal labor laws.

“We need to find a way that verification can be accomplished by a company without bringing about discrimination against Latinos,” she said.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), who ran the hearing in place of committee Chairman Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.), said the panel would act soon on the nomination, which is expected to reach the Senate floor in early October with a favorable recommendation.