bear-arms
07-13-2005, 05:38 AM
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of people from countries other than Mexico arrested trying to cross the U.S. southern border has almost doubled this year, the head of the U.S. border patrol told the U.S. Congress on Tuesday.
David Aguilar told the House of Representatives appropriations subcommittee on homeland security the United States was continuing to experience a rising influx of what he termed OTMs -- other than Mexicans -- trying to enter the country illegally.
"Apprehensions are running at a rate of 175 percent for fiscal year 2005 over FY 2004's record number of OTM apprehensions on the southwest border," Aguilar said.
In all, the border patrol has detained 919,000 illegal immigrants so far this year, of whom 119,000 were non-Mexicans. The largest single number -- over 12,000 -- came from Brazil.
U.S. officials believe the increase stems from non-Mexican illegal immigrants knowing they will be released even if they are caught crossing the border.
Mexicans caught by U.S. border patrols trying to enter the country illegally are usually immediately returned to their native land. Many simply wait a day and then try to sneak into the country again.
But Mexico accepts only Mexicans, so any non-Mexicans are checked against government watch lists as a potential security or criminal threat.
If their names do not appear, they are normally released on their own recognizance and told to appear at a deportation hearing often months in the future. Some 85 percent fail to show up for the hearing and are never seen again.
Lawmakers are increasingly concerned that terrorists could slip across the Mexican border, particularly since U.S. authorities have vastly tightened visa scrutiny and airport checks in the past four years, especially for people seeking to enter the United States from the Middle East.
Aguilar said that last year the border patrol detained 644 people from "countries of concern" and had stopped some 500 this year. They were subjected to intense interrogation and investigation.
Subcommittee chairman Hal Rogers, a Republican from Kentucky, said the figures were striking and alarming.
"We should be greatly concerned because OTMs do not register (with the authorities), their travel documents are suspect and they have no biometric records that can be checked to verify identity," he said.
Immigration bills being submitted to Congress seek to increase the detention space at the border, which currently stands at just under 20,000 beds.
Aguilar said the best way to deter people from crossing the border illegally was to increase the number of those detained.
Leonard Kovensky, acting director of detention and removal operations at the Department of
Homeland Security, told the subcommittee his department deported 85,000 illegal aliens with criminal records last year and had already removed over 45,000 in the first four months of this year.
At a separate subcommittee hearing on alien smuggling across the Mexican border, Indiana Republican Rep. Mark Souder (news, bio, voting record) criticized the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency for only devoting 7 percent of its investigative hours last year to the problem.
"This is simply not acceptable," he said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050712/us_nm/security_immigrati (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050712/us_nm/security_immigration_dc) on_dc
David Aguilar told the House of Representatives appropriations subcommittee on homeland security the United States was continuing to experience a rising influx of what he termed OTMs -- other than Mexicans -- trying to enter the country illegally.
"Apprehensions are running at a rate of 175 percent for fiscal year 2005 over FY 2004's record number of OTM apprehensions on the southwest border," Aguilar said.
In all, the border patrol has detained 919,000 illegal immigrants so far this year, of whom 119,000 were non-Mexicans. The largest single number -- over 12,000 -- came from Brazil.
U.S. officials believe the increase stems from non-Mexican illegal immigrants knowing they will be released even if they are caught crossing the border.
Mexicans caught by U.S. border patrols trying to enter the country illegally are usually immediately returned to their native land. Many simply wait a day and then try to sneak into the country again.
But Mexico accepts only Mexicans, so any non-Mexicans are checked against government watch lists as a potential security or criminal threat.
If their names do not appear, they are normally released on their own recognizance and told to appear at a deportation hearing often months in the future. Some 85 percent fail to show up for the hearing and are never seen again.
Lawmakers are increasingly concerned that terrorists could slip across the Mexican border, particularly since U.S. authorities have vastly tightened visa scrutiny and airport checks in the past four years, especially for people seeking to enter the United States from the Middle East.
Aguilar said that last year the border patrol detained 644 people from "countries of concern" and had stopped some 500 this year. They were subjected to intense interrogation and investigation.
Subcommittee chairman Hal Rogers, a Republican from Kentucky, said the figures were striking and alarming.
"We should be greatly concerned because OTMs do not register (with the authorities), their travel documents are suspect and they have no biometric records that can be checked to verify identity," he said.
Immigration bills being submitted to Congress seek to increase the detention space at the border, which currently stands at just under 20,000 beds.
Aguilar said the best way to deter people from crossing the border illegally was to increase the number of those detained.
Leonard Kovensky, acting director of detention and removal operations at the Department of
Homeland Security, told the subcommittee his department deported 85,000 illegal aliens with criminal records last year and had already removed over 45,000 in the first four months of this year.
At a separate subcommittee hearing on alien smuggling across the Mexican border, Indiana Republican Rep. Mark Souder (news, bio, voting record) criticized the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency for only devoting 7 percent of its investigative hours last year to the problem.
"This is simply not acceptable," he said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050712/us_nm/security_immigrati (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050712/us_nm/security_immigration_dc) on_dc