Houston Chronicle: The Department of Homeland Security and its immigration enforcement efforts took a modest cut under President Obama's proposed federal budget for 2013 that he unveiled Monday.
The belt-tightening proposed budget calls for a reduction of 0.5 percent -- or $191 million -- from the 2012 mark of $39.5 billion.
The president's proposal seems to strengthen immigration enforcement against undocumented immigrants while reducing the number of those in detention. If approved by Congress, the budget would maintain funds and the number of deployed officers along the northern and southern borders, streamline collection data from international travelers and expand immigration verification systems.
Obama's budget consolidates the US-Visit program within Homeland Security's two major branches -- Customs and Border Protection, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The program is used to collect biometric data -- digital fingerprints and a photograph -- from international travelers at U.S. visa-issuing posts and ports of entry. The consolidation could reduce funds by $27 million.
The budget provides an additional $132 million for two programs that help employers determine the immigration status of their workforce. The funds would support E-Verify, which yields data showing whether potential employees are legally allow to work in the country, and the Systematic Alien Verification Entitlements, commonly referred to as SAVE. This program helps public agencies check the immigration status of individuals applying for federal, state and local government benefits.
No new immigration enforcement mandates were announced on Monday. But the budget unveiled a voluntary "self-check" option for E-Verify, which along with SAVE, was designed "to promote compliance with immigration laws while preventing individuals from obtaining benefits they are not eligible to receive," the budget stated.
The White House unveiled additional strategies that go along Homeland Security's recent policy changes that intend to reprioritize the department's prosecutorial decisions on undocumented immigrants. The budget adds electronic monitoring and intensive supervision as alternatives to detention for undocumented aliens who are deemed low-priority for deportation.
"The Department's FY 2013 budget request preserves core frontline priorities by cutting costs, sharing resources across components, and streamlining operations wherever possible," Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said in a statement Monday.
The $3.8 trillion budget blueprint also suggests keeping the number of Customs and Border Protection officers at 21,186 and Border Patrol agents at 21,370.
The proposed budget for Homeland Security redirects over $850 million in base resources including contracts, personnel (through attrition), overtime and travel among others, to frontline operations. Yet stakeholders on both sides of the immigration table questioned whether the budget meets the nation's needs.
"We always want to have more agents, but under the budget not going below (the existing number) is enough," said Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo. "Keep in mind that the number of illegal crossings is at its lowest since 1972, but we have to see how do we get more efficiency out of the Border Patrol agents that we have."
Cuellar, whose district sits along the U.S-Mexico border, questioned whether the number of agents currently headquartered in Washington is appropriate, and whether they should be deployed to posts along the borders.
A coalition of Texas-border mayors, county judges and economic development associations expressed their disapproval of the president's budget Monday.
"We didn't expect President Obama to wave a fiscal wand and fully fund the border crossings overnight," said Ramsey Cantu, Eagle Pass mayor and chairman of the Texas Boarder Coalition. "But we are extremely disappointed that the federal budget does not include additional resources for the Southern border crossings, and that security at these facilities remains a low priority for this Administration in the year to come.
The belt-tightening proposed budget calls for a reduction of 0.5 percent -- or $191 million -- from the 2012 mark of $39.5 billion.
The president's proposal seems to strengthen immigration enforcement against undocumented immigrants while reducing the number of those in detention. If approved by Congress, the budget would maintain funds and the number of deployed officers along the northern and southern borders, streamline collection data from international travelers and expand immigration verification systems.
Obama's budget consolidates the US-Visit program within Homeland Security's two major branches -- Customs and Border Protection, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The program is used to collect biometric data -- digital fingerprints and a photograph -- from international travelers at U.S. visa-issuing posts and ports of entry. The consolidation could reduce funds by $27 million.
The budget provides an additional $132 million for two programs that help employers determine the immigration status of their workforce. The funds would support E-Verify, which yields data showing whether potential employees are legally allow to work in the country, and the Systematic Alien Verification Entitlements, commonly referred to as SAVE. This program helps public agencies check the immigration status of individuals applying for federal, state and local government benefits.
No new immigration enforcement mandates were announced on Monday. But the budget unveiled a voluntary "self-check" option for E-Verify, which along with SAVE, was designed "to promote compliance with immigration laws while preventing individuals from obtaining benefits they are not eligible to receive," the budget stated.
The White House unveiled additional strategies that go along Homeland Security's recent policy changes that intend to reprioritize the department's prosecutorial decisions on undocumented immigrants. The budget adds electronic monitoring and intensive supervision as alternatives to detention for undocumented aliens who are deemed low-priority for deportation.
"The Department's FY 2013 budget request preserves core frontline priorities by cutting costs, sharing resources across components, and streamlining operations wherever possible," Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said in a statement Monday.
The $3.8 trillion budget blueprint also suggests keeping the number of Customs and Border Protection officers at 21,186 and Border Patrol agents at 21,370.
The proposed budget for Homeland Security redirects over $850 million in base resources including contracts, personnel (through attrition), overtime and travel among others, to frontline operations. Yet stakeholders on both sides of the immigration table questioned whether the budget meets the nation's needs.
"We always want to have more agents, but under the budget not going below (the existing number) is enough," said Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo. "Keep in mind that the number of illegal crossings is at its lowest since 1972, but we have to see how do we get more efficiency out of the Border Patrol agents that we have."
Cuellar, whose district sits along the U.S-Mexico border, questioned whether the number of agents currently headquartered in Washington is appropriate, and whether they should be deployed to posts along the borders.
A coalition of Texas-border mayors, county judges and economic development associations expressed their disapproval of the president's budget Monday.
"We didn't expect President Obama to wave a fiscal wand and fully fund the border crossings overnight," said Ramsey Cantu, Eagle Pass mayor and chairman of the Texas Boarder Coalition. "But we are extremely disappointed that the federal budget does not include additional resources for the Southern border crossings, and that security at these facilities remains a low priority for this Administration in the year to come.
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