Border Patrol

* As the sponsors of the amendment to the crime bill to provide an additional 6,000 Border Patrol agents, we were disappointed by your editorial of April 22 (“Immigration Aid: At Last, a Bit of Fairness”), which criticized this initiative.

We take exception to your conclusion that hiring these new agents will be ineffective. Experience shows that numbers do matter. In a March 30 letter to us, INS Commissioner Doris Meissner commended Congress on our initiative last year to add 600 agents. She stated, “A special operation carried out in El Paso last fall demonstrated that a heavy concentration of agents on the line can effectively deter illegal entry. This special operation stopped the ‘revolving door’ that had dominated illegal immigration patterns from Juarez, Mexico, to El Paso, Texas.”

Illegal immigration demands a multifaceted approach. There are many measures pending in Congress that would help with this problem. But the key is to regain control of our borders. The Border Patrol does not have the agents or resources to cope with the flow.

If illegal aliens are stopped at the border, they will not be filling hospital beds, classrooms, or prison bunks in this country. All 52 California representatives supported this amendment because common sense and the record show that we can deter illegal immigration if we give the Border Patrol the resources it needs.

REP. RANDY (DUKE) CUNNINGHAM

R-San Diego

REP. DUNCAN HUNTER

R-El Cajon