Barbara Lee Slams Border Militarization Calls Proposal a “Dangerous Publicity Stunt”
(Washington, DC) – Today, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) sharply criticized the Bush administration’s proposal to militarize the U.S. border with Mexico in order to stop illegal immigration, calling the proposal “a dangerous publicity stunt.” The following is her statement:
“If the President and the Republicans in Congress were serious about securing our border, they would have provided more funding for border control, following the 9-11 Commission’s recommendations. The fact is, they have consistently failed to do so. Their record speaks for itself.
“The administration’s proposal is not only bad policy, but dangerous. Our military is already stretched too thin to support this mission. Furthermore, the National Guard is a military force; they are not trained to perform law enforcement. The fact is, if we can afford to send in the National Guard, we can afford to hire more border patrol agents.
“Our armed forces should not be a prop in a border security photo op. The American people deserve real immigration reform, not a dangerous publicity stunt driven by election year politics and the President’s slumping approval numbers.”
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Background:
Dec, 2004: the 9-11 Commission legislation (passed by Congress, signed by the President) said the very least the U.S. needed to do was add 2,000 Border Patrol agents annually (for 10 years) and 8,000 detention beds annually.
President’s budget 2005: proposed 200 BP agents (that’s 1,800 short of the least we said we would do) and 1,900 detention beds (6,100 short of the least we said we would do).
Congressional budget 2005: including all appropriations, funded 1,500 BP agents (still 500 short of 9-11 Commission mandates) and 4,250 detention beds (still 3,750 short of 9-11 Commission recommendations).
President’s budget 2006: proposed 1,500 BP agents (still 1,000 short of the least we said we would do) and 6,000 detention beds (still 5,750 short of the least we said we would do).