HUTCHISON URGES PAY RAISE FOR BORDER PATROL AGENTS

WASHINGTON April 29 (States) -- Blasting the Clinton administration's
efforts on border patrol, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, and other
senators from border states introduced legislation aimed at helping the
agency recruit and retain new agents. Hutchison said their action was
prompted by testimony from Border Patrol Chief Gus De La Vina, who said he
could not hire the 1,000 agents required and funded by Congress this year
because of what he said was a tight labor market.

Since not all of the money from Congress intended for hiring agents will be
used for that purpose, the legislation calls for using the left over money
to increase the salary cap for current border patrol agents from $34,000 to
$41,000. In addition, the bill would create an office within the Border
Patrol devoted specifically to recruitment. The Immigration and
Naturalization Service is required to hire 1,000 new border patrol agents
every year until 2001, according to a 1996 immigration law.

But De La Vina said he would probably only be able to hire 200 to 400 new
agents in 1999. "It is an outrage that the Border Patrol is ignoring
Congress' mandate to hire 1,000 new agents," Hutchison said. "If, as the
Border Patrol says, a tight labor market is the problem, our Border Patrol
pay raise legislation should help make these critical positions competitive."

Hutchison, along with Sens. Jon Kyl, R- Ariz., John McCain, R-Ariz., and
Pete Domenici, R-N.M., said the border desperately needs more agents to
control the flow of drugs and illegal immigrants coming over the border from
Mexico. "With record numbers of illegal immigrants and amounts of illegal
drugs crossing our Southern border ... the United States is in critical need
of more Border Patrol agents," said Sen. Kyl. Hutchison called the
situation at the border an "emergency" and said she is at her "wit's end"
concerning the situation at the border.

"Congress has appropriated nearly $100 million this year for 1,000 new
agents. If we hire fewer than that, the balance of the fund should be
directed to providing whatever pay increases we can offer immediately,"
Hutchison said. McAllen Chief Patrol Agent Joe Garza said he "definitely
needs more agents" to cover the 280 miles of border under his jurisdiction.
Garza said he was scheduled to receive 250 new agents this year, but so far
he has only 16 recruits headed to the region. Garza said he is optimistic
that he might get more federal agents before the end of the fiscal year.

"We still have some time left (before the end of the fiscal year)," Garza
said. The agency will become actively involved in recruitment at the local
level, Garza said. "The field is going to get involved so we can have an
accelerated recruitment effort," Garza said. Nicole Chulick, a spokeswoman
for the INS, said the agency already has an entity within its human
resources department focused solely on border patrol recruitment. Border
patrol recruiters have at least 200 events such as job fairs and employer
workshops planned this year, Chulick said.

As for the pay raise, Chulick said this is not a new issue for the INS.
"We're appreciative of Congress' support," Chulick said. "Pay reform is an
issue the agency has been looking at for a little while."