House Adds $1.9 Billion for Border Security

House Adds $1.9 Billion for Border Security

The U.S. House of Representatives, today, voted 351-67 to approve the conference report on the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2006 that included $1.9 billion for Border Security.

"Stopping aliens from illegally crossing our borders necessitates a federal commitment to enforcing immigration laws," said Rep. Darrell Issa who presided over the House during the bill's passage and favors tightening border security. "This funding will not give us operational control of our borders but adding new border patrol agents, increasing detention space for illegal aliens, and adding money to prosecute criminal aliens is a foundation for an enforcement first approach to immigration."

The $94.5 billion dollar measure that funds emergency defense priorities, hurricane relief, and other Department of Homeland Security priorities includes $708 million to pay for the deployment National Guard troops along the Southwest border, $1.2 billion for the Department of Homeland Security to train and hire 1000 new border agents, 4000 additional detention beds. In addition the funding bill includes $20 million to increase the number of judges and attorneys at the Department of Justice to adjudicate violations of immigration law -- $2 million, of which will specifically add new attorneys to prosecute criminal aliens.

http://issa.house.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressOffice.View&ContentRecord_id=407&Region_id=0&Issue_id=0&CFID=21656789&CFTOKEN=42528567