INS Criticized for Not Hiring Enough Agents

Senators chided the Immigration and Naturalization Service chief Tuesday for falling short of a goal of hiring 1,000 new Border Patrol agents last year and only seeking money for 430 more next year.

“What gives? Why can’t we get some people employed?” Sen. Ernest F. Hollings (D-S.C.) asked INS Commissioner Doris Meissner, who oversees the Border Patrol.

The patrol added 369 agents during the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, despite a congressional directive to hire 1,000 per year. All new agents were assigned to the Southwest border with Mexico, where 92% of all border agents work.

Lawmakers have expressed heightened concern about border security since the Dec. 14 arrest of an Algerian man in Port Angeles, Wash., who allegedly was carrying bomb-making materials in his rental car.

Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), the chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee responsible for the INS budget, warned that he might seek cuts in the Border Patrol’s administrative budget if the agency fails to meet congressional hiring goals.

“We do have the final say in this exercise,” Gregg said. “The fact is that this administration has flouted the Congress’ efforts to beef up the Border Patrol.”

Meissner said hiring more agents is a “major effort of very high priority” that faltered last year because of a tight job market. Meissner said the Border Patrol has broadened its pool of applicants by recruiting heavily along the border with Mexico and making it easier for Spanish-speaking applicants to qualify.

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) suggested that the Border Patrol give bonuses to new agents who are fluent in Spanish.