President Cuts Border Security Budget

[Travis]

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-2684-Law-Enforcement-Examiner~y2010m2d2-President-cuts-border-security-budget





President cuts border security budget

February 2, 8:05 AM[image: http://image.examiner.com/img/greydot.gif]Law
Enforcement 
Examiner<http://www.examiner.com/x-2684-Law-Enforcement-Examiner>[image:
http://image.examiner.com/img/greydot.gif]Jim Kouri

While telling the American people that national security is a priority in
his administration, President Barack Obama submitted a 2011 budget proposal
that includes cuts to U.S. border security.

The proposed budget cuts include a reduction in Border Patrol agents and a
cut in the amount of money allocated for the so-called "virtual fence" on
the U.S.-Mexico border, which critics claim is a pipe dream in lieu of a
real border fence



In the midst of a firestorm over Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano's
failure to appear before a  Congressional committee hearing, officials from
her office confirmed the proposed cuts on Monday. They said, however, that
there would be no lay-offs of Border Patrol agents and the reduction
in positions would be achieved through attrition as agents retire or
transfer to other Homeland Security departments.



In order to ward off vocal condemnation of this latest Obama proposal, White
House officials claim the cuts won't reduce the effectiveness of the
U.S. Border Patrol, which President George W. Bush doubled in size. At it's
apex, there were more than 20,000 agents assigned to northern and southern
borders.



This latest White House attempt to reduce the amount of resources allocated
for border protection will undoubtedly be met with resistance from the
Senate and House of Representatives, who will be vote on proposed budget
cuts, according to several national security experts.



"The Republicans are expected to kick up a fuss over this latest effort to
minimize the protection of U.S. borders. But, this is an election year and
Democrats do not want to appear weak on security, especially when control of
both houses of Congress is at stake," said former NYPD detective and Marine
intelligence officer Sid Frances.



"Look at it this way: New York City has a police department that numbers
well over 40,000 officers and another 10,000 civilian employees, yet the
U.S. Border Patrol agents, who are responsible for thousands and thousands
of miles of border, number only 20,000. And Obama wants to cut that number,"
said Frances, now the owner of a private security firm.





Obama's proposed budget cut also would eliminate $226 million that had been
allocated for an electronic "virtual fence" system along the border. Known
as "SBInet," the strategy is to install cameras, radar and sensors to detect
humans and contraband coming into the U.S..

Obama White House officials told reporters that even though the President is
seeking cuts in border programs, the administration is seeking an additional
$10 million to create Border Enforcement Security Task Forces in Honolulu,
San Francisco, and Massena, N.Y.

These multi-agency teams work to identify and stop criminal organizations
that transport drugs and other contraband across U.S. borders.

"This is only the beginning," said political strategist Mike Baker. "There
will be more cuts made to Immigration and Customs Enforcement since
President Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and others have been critical of
agents going after illegal workers. This budget is going to be all smoke and
mirrors."



*Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National
Association of Chiefs of Police and he's a columnist for The Examiner (
examiner.com) and New Media Alliance (thenma.org).  In addition, he's a
blogger for the Cheyenne, Wyoming Fox News Radio affiliate KGAB (
www.kgab.com). Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden
Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty.

He's former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights
nicknamed "Crack City" by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In
addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university
and director of security for several major organizations.  He's also served
on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers
throughout the country.   Kouri writes for many police and security
magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer and
others. He's a news writer and columnist for AmericanDaily.Com,
MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.Com, and he's syndicated by AXcessNews.Com.
Kouri appears regularly as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news
and talk shows including Fox News Channel, Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN
Headline News, MTV, etc.  *

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