By Kevin Buey
Deming Headlight
WASHINGTON — A bill previously passed by the U.S. Senate was passed again, Thursday, to correct a technical glitch. It was signed Friday by President Barack Obama.
The 2010 Emergency Border Security Supplemental Appropriations Bill (HR 6080) was co-sponsored by Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M. It allocates $600 million for numerous security projects on the U.S.-Mexico border, including $6 million for two Forward Operating Bases in New Mexico’s Bootheel. The bill is funded by raising fees on H-1B visas (for temporary skilled workers) for companies with more than 50 percent of their employees on H-1B visas (this exempts U.S. tech companies) and raises fees on L visas (for multi-national transferees) for foreign companies.
It was passed by the Senate earlier this month, sent to the U.S. House of Representatives and approved last Tuesday, then returned to the Senate.
“It was a technical thing,” Jude McCartin, in Bingaman’s Washington, D.C., office, said of the bill reverting to the Senate. “It’s my understanding all spending bills have to originate in the House, with an HR designation. It is an HR bill, but it came from the wrong committee, so it was supposed to come back to the Senate.”
That was expected in September, but the Senate reconvened Thursday to move the bill to the White House for Obama’s signature.
“I have made securing our Southwest Border a top priority since I came to office,” Obama said in a news release, Thursday. “Today’s action by Congress answers my call to bolster the essential work of federal law enforcement officials and improve their ability to partner with state, local, and tribal law enforcement.”
Forward Operating Bases have been sought for New Mexico’s Bootheel to drastically cut the time for Lordsburg-based USBP Agents to reach the border. At a May meeting in Deming, Lordsburg USBP Agent-in-Charge Chris Mangusing estimated an FOB in the Bootheel would put agents within 10 minutes of the border — 24 hours a day — as opposed to as much as a 90-minute drive from Lordsburg.
The call for tighter security, especially in that area, rose after the March shooting death of Arizona rancher Robert Krentz, 58, on his spread between Douglas and Apache. Investigators found tracks leading to Mexico.
The Bootheel is an area through which numerous attempts to smuggle drugs are made. Mangusing said in May at the Southwest Border Security Task Force Meeting that narcotics cases had increased 14 percent since the same time last year. A 40-acre plot off County Road Route 1 in Animas Valley, he said, and an empty building at Antelope Wells Port of Entry could be sites for forward bases.
The legislation would add 1,500 new immigration enforcement officers, including 1,000 new Border Patrol agents to form a “strike force” to be deployed to areas that need it most, 250 new CBP Officers at ports of entry and 250 new ICE Agents to fight weapons smuggling, human trafficking and drug organizations.
“We’ve made a lot of progress in recent years to secure our border, but there is more work to do,” Bingman said in a news release. “This bill invests in border security personnel — as well as the tools they need — to step-up efforts to fight drug trafficking and the smuggling of contraband across the border.”
Rep. Harry Teague, D-N.M., Vice-Chair of the Congressional Border Caucus, also co-sponsored the bill.
“Today we mark the first of those steps in securing the US-Mexico border, bolstering our national security, and making sure that New Mexican families and communities are safe,” Teague said Friday. “This surge will ensure that these agents have the support they need to fight illegal border activity and swiftly apprehend violent criminals.”
Obama has authorized deployment of as many as 1,200 National Guard troops the Southwest border. Lt. Col. Jamison Herrera, of the N.M. National Guard, said 82 troops will be assigned to New Mexico. They are training with USBP Agents before deployment. Gov. Bill Richardson sent New Mexico Guard personnel to the border after Krentz’ death.
Copyright 2010 Deming Headlight, a MediaNews Group Newspaper