• Login
• My Profile
• Help

Search

Products Police Products Accident Reconstruction AEDs AFIS Ammunition Antennas Apparel Badges Bags and Cases Ballistic Shields Batons Bicycles Biometrics Body Armor Books and Training Materials CAD Cameras Cargo Storage Collectibles Communications Communications Interoperability Computer Forensics Concealable Armor Consoles Correctional Armor Corrections Products Crime Scene Investigation Crisis Communications Data/Information Sharing Software Dispatch Equipment DNA Forensics Duty Boots Duty Gear Emergency Lighting Emergency Preparedness Emergency Response Emergency Response Software EOD Evidence Management Eyewear False Alarm Management Financial Services Firearm Accessories Firearms Firearms Storage Fitness Flashlights Footwear For Cops, By Cops Forensic Supplies Gas Masks GIS/Mapping Software Gloves Gun Cleaning Gun Racks Handguns Headsets Helmets Holsters In Car Video Investigation Investigation Software Jail Management K9 Police Training K9 Products Knives Laser Traffic Enforcement Less Lethal License Plate Readers Light Bars Medical Supplies Mics Mobile Computers Mobile Data Motorcycle Accessories and Gear Motorcycles Mounts Night Vision Outerwear P25 Radios Partitions and Barriers Patrol Cars Personal Protective Equipment Personal Shields Personal Transportation Vehicles Police Robots Power Distribution Precision Rifle Prisoner Transport Projectiles and Launchers Public Safety Software Public Venue Protection Push Bumper Radar Radio/Wireless Networks Radios Report Writing Software Restraints Riot Gear RMS Satellite Communications Scheduling Search and Rescue Secure Communications Shooting Range Equipment Shotguns Sights and Scopes Simulation Software Sirens Software Specialty Vehicles Sprays and Aerosols Storage Surveillance Tactical Apparel Tactical Armor Tactical Entry Tactical Eyewear Tactical Footwear Tactical Headsets Tactical Medical / TEMS Tactical Products Tactical Video TASER Technology Thermal Imaging Traffic Enforcement Training Training Gear Training Products Training Services Training Simulators Undercover Undergear Uniforms Vehicle Equipment Vehicle Graphics Vehicles Video Analysis Video Surveillance Weapon Lights Wire Tap Systems Wireless Communications Wireless Handsets Wireless Networking WMD Equipment

• PoliceOne Email

Sponsors

Border Patrol Resources

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Duty Gear Forum (Secure) Glossary of Night Vision Terms Provided By Morovision Jail's Webb County U.S. Customs and Border Protection More Links Submit A Listing

Featured Product Categories

Firearms Storage Push Bumper Video Surveillance Emergency Response Software Public Venue Protection View All Categories

Border Patrol Products

Featured Product:

ROLLYPOLY™ (MM Folding Dump Pouch) from Maxpedition Hard-use Gear

Border Patrol Article

November 09, 2007

EmailPrintTalk BackRegisterRSSWhat's This

Chertoff pledges to fight lawsuits targeting border security

By SUZANNE GAMBOA
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON — Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff pledged to fight all lawsuits against his efforts to secure the border, ranging from building fences to requiring new driver's licenses.

Chertoff on Tuesday blamed lawsuits like one blocking his department from using Social Security information and another trying to prevent fence construction on the Arizona-Mexico border as part of the reason the federal government has had trouble getting control of the border for the past 30 years.

"I will fight every lawsuit. I will deal with every procedural roadblock. I will use every tool the law allows to continue to press forward in the enforcement of laws," Chertoff said.

Chertoff conducted a multimedia presentation to give a status report on his department's attempt to tighten immigration enforcement with existing laws and regulations to "try to fill the gap left open by Congress' failure to act to address the challenges comprehensively."

He hinged some of the agency's future border security work, such as building a total 670-mile (1,078-kilometer) border fence, on getting more money from Congress.

But negotiators who drafted a compromise defense spending bill stripped the measure of $3 billion (euro2 billion) in emergency border security money.

The money is already in a Homeland Security Department spending bill but President George W. Bush is threatening to veto that measure.

The achievements Chertoff named for the fiscal year 2007 that ended Sept. 30 include:

• Built more than 76 miles (122 kilometers) of fence, for a total of 106 miles (170 kilometers) of pedestrian fence and 115 miles (185 kilometers) of vehicle fence on the Southwest border.
• Hired about 15,000 agents.
• Apprehensions fell 22 percent at the U.S.-Mexican border, indicating fewer illegal crossings.
• The number of businesses using a system that allows them to check whether workers are legal rose from 11,474 in 2006 fiscal year to 24,463 this year.

Chertoff said the agency plans to send to the White House's Office of Management and Budget this week proposed changes to rules for the H2-A temporary agriculture worker program to relieve worker shortages.

Chertoff declined to provide specifics on the proposal, but said he is trying to "streamline some of the requirements with respect to wages" and other requirements. He said he wants sensible changes but also wants to keep worker protections in place.

Employers consider the H2-A program cumbersome and many hire undocumented workers rather than use the program.

Growers and immigrant advocates had hoped Congress would pass immigrant agricultural worker legislation known as AgJobs as part of the farm bill.

Back to previous page