2 Senators Assail Immigration Initiative : Congress: Critics say Administration plan fails to strengthen Border Patrol enough.

The Administration’s two-year, $540.5-million program to cut down illegal immigration while encouraging legal immigrants to become citizens drew sharp criticism Thursday from two senators with influence over the Justice Department’s purse strings.

The lawmakers said the effort falls short of Congress’ desire to build up the Border Patrol along the U.S.-Mexican boundary, indicating that the entire effort could have trouble getting off the ground.

But immigrant advocate groups--usually quick to condemn border crackdowns--generally offered qualified support of what the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund praised as a “balanced approach” mixing enforcement with a citizenship drive.

Sens. Ernest F. Hollings (D-S.C.), chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that controls Justice Department funding, and Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.), ranking minority member of the panel, said that the initiative “does not conform with congressional direction” to hire 600 new Border Patrol agents.

The program, formally unveiled Thursday by Atty. Gen. Janet Reno and Immigration and Naturalization Service Commissioner Doris Meissner, calls for adding 620 Border Patrol agents in the current fiscal year, but only 350 would be new hires. The other 270 would be agents reassigned from support duties and administrative work.

Nationwide, the Border Patrol now has about 4,100 agents, one-quarter of them posted in the San Diego area, the busiest crossing point for illegal entrants.

In a letter to Reno, Hollings and Domenici said they expect the Justice Department to seek congressional approval before transferring agents from administrative tasks back to the border. Administration officials want to replace the desk workers with less costly contract personnel.

Sens. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), Dennis DeConcini (D-Ariz.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) joined Hollings and Domenici in a separate letter asking Reno why all of the $45 million already appropriated for hiring 600 new Border Patrol agents is being spent in San Diego and El Paso.

“The citizens of Arizona and New Mexico are also entitled to assistance as Southwest border states that are constantly confronted with illegal immigration and drug trafficking,” the five senators wrote.

In announcing the program Thursday, Reno and Meissner said that its immediate focus is on the San Diego and El Paso sections of the 2,000-mile border because those areas account for 65% of illegal immigrant apprehensions.

Along with bolstered enforcement, officials announced a wide-ranging, $30-million plan to promote naturalization of foreign nationals residing in the United States legally. The plan includes extensive public education and streamlined procedures designed to persuade immigrants to become U.S. citizens.

Immigrant advocates have long called on the federal government to bolster citizenship programs, which they say the INS has treated as a low priority.

“We want people to become citizens and participate in the democratic process,” said Carlos Vaquerano, spokesman for the Central American Resource Center, a Los Angeles assistance group.

While supporting the citizenship initiative and the accompanying Border Patrol buildup, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund stressed the importance of improved training and supervision of agents and the creation of an oversight mechanism to curtail misconduct.

In the proposal, authorities said they were revising training to emphasize ethics and civil rights, strengthening internal disciplinary procedures and creating a citizens advisory panel.

But some observers were skeptical of the plan. “We’re against militarizing the border any more, and that’s what this plan does: militarize the border,” said Roberto Martinez, border representative for the American Friends Service Committee.

From another viewpoint, the Federation for American Immigration Reform criticized the Justice Department blueprint for not doing enough to overhaul a flawed immigration system. Among other steps, the group seeks tougher measures to crack down on illegal immigration and detect false claims of U.S. citizenship.

Other elements of the two-year effort include:

* Providing new technologies, such as lighting five miles of border east of San Ysidro to help detect nighttime border crossers, and automating booking and fingerprinting procedures to identify those who have been arrested previously.

* Expediting the deportations of immigrants imprisoned for crimes in California, Texas, New York, Florida and Illinois. The proposal calls for deporting such criminals immediately after they complete their sentences.

* Upgrading the asylum process by doubling the number of INS officers and immigration judges handling claims. Officials hope to be keeping up with new asylum pleas by year’s end and then attacking the backlog of 300,000 cases.

* Stepping up enforcement of sanctions against employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants by focusing on industries and employers who have a history of violations.

Ostrow reported from Washington and McDonnell from Los Angeles.