Border Security Bill a Step in the Right Direction

This past August, the Senate passed a border security bill that will invest $600 million in border security improvements, including funding for National Guard deployment, technology and law enforcement activities related to border enforcement.  Passage of this legislation is a step in the right direction, but it doesn't do nearly enough to get to the root of our border control problems. 

The funding will help put 1,500 National Guard members on the border, but it’s nowhere near the 6,000 previously deployed by the Bush administration.  This bill, signed into law on August 13, 2010, fails to adequately address the need to complete a double-layer fence in southern border areas that need it badly.  

The new law also fails to address the shortcomings of the Operation Streamline initiative, a program that charges those individuals who have crossed the border illegally with a petty crime or misdemeanor, resulting in jail time.  Additionally, it neglects to fully implement the exit-entry system mandated in 1996, which would help us know who is entering and leaving the country.