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Statement Regarding the Southwest Border
July 21, 1994
Washington, D.C.- Senator John McCain spoke on the floor of the United States Senate today regarding the Southwest Border, and gave the following remarks:Mr. President, this amendment is very simple. It expresses the Sense of the Senate that the Attorney General should:
- Evaluate the number of individuals illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border;
- Develop and implement a policy that seeks to curb the number of illegal border crossings;
- Ensure that any policy developed seeks to curb the number of crossings equally along the entirety of the Southwest border; and
- Ensure that such policy enables law enforcement officials to shift resources to address any increases in the number of illegal border crossings wherever they may occur.
Mr. President, much of what this amendment calls for is already being done. The Attorney General is already monitoring illegal border crossings and taking steps to stop such crossings.
I applaud the Attorney General for her efforts.
However, there still does not appear to be any plan to address the entire border situation.
For the record, I want to note that the Committee has included language in its report echoing my concerns regarding this subject. The purpose of this amendment is to send a clear and strong signal to the Attorney General that the full Senate believes that problems along the Southwest border must be addressed in a comprehensive manner.
Let me recount the facts regarding this issue.
On February 3, the Attorney General made a significant announcement regarding the border patrol and our nation's priorities. Ms. Reno and Immigration and Naturalization Service Commissioner Doris Meissner outlined their plan to strengthen enforcement of our immigration laws and "to safeguard her borders."
The highlight of this plan, as it was announced, was strengthening the border patrol. Specifically, for 1994, San Diego border patrol strength was increased by 40%, the equivalent of some 300 agents and 97 support staff.
The Attorney General stated that such action will "stop the revolving door on the border.. .by a strategy of deterrence through prevention."
This localized plan -- in lieu of a national plan -- caused others and myself great concern.
After the Senators from Arizona and New Mexico publicly noted this unfair, irrational distribution of agents, the Border Patrol took steps to change its original policy.
(Washington Post, Arizona Republic)
The Border Patrol told my staff that Arizona "need not worry" about increased illegal immigration because if it were to occur -- and they admitted it will -- and the facts now prove it is -- that agents could be moved to Arizona. Unfortunately, these are simply hollow words.
Mr. President, when my staff asked Border Patrol officials what criteria would be used to determine when agents would be shifted from one region to another -- for example from California to Arizona -- my staff was told there was no official criteria and that such moves would be made at the policy level when determined to be appropriate. In other words, when the politics of the situation merit a shift in agents, the Attorney General's office will comply.
Mr. President, the people of Arizona have a right to know when our border patrol problems merit the concern of Border Patrol officials. I expect that the Attorney General's office will be forthcoming with specifics regarding this issue.
Under the Attorney General's plan the revolving door at San Diego will be closed. Nothing however will be done at this time in Arizona. This appears to be a short sighted, politically expedient solution to our immigration problems.
It is the political aspect of this solution that particularly concerns me.
Mr. President, for the information of those at the Attorney General's office and the Border Patrol, the Southwest border is comprised of four states: Arizona, New Mexico, California, and Texas. The Arizona-Mexico border is three times the length of the California-Mexico border and has more border crossing stations. I would hope that the Attorney General and all other officials concerned with that border would remember that each state on the border has equal concerns that must be addressed.
The needs of the people and of this country must be put ahead of what appears to be a political agenda. It is discouraging and disheartening that the Attorney General's office and the Department of Justice is acting in such a overtly political fashion. Of all federal agencies, the Department of Justice should be above politics.
This Sense of the Senate amendment would direct the Attorney General to implement a border- wide policy. It is drafted as a Sense of the Senate so as not to tie the hands of the Attorney General. Simply, it sends a message to the Attorney General that the United States Senate expects her to put policy above politics -- in other words, to implement a national plan that addresses the needs of the entire Southwest border.
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