Border Patrol grabs 1.15 million illegals in '04
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
From a report in The Washington Times, link here: Border Patrol grabs 1.15 million illegals in '04
By Jerry Seper
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehended 1.15 million illegal aliens last year trying to sneak into the United States between the nation's land ports of entry, more than 3,100 a day — a 24 percent increase over the year before.
The agents, part of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), also made 8,577 drug seizures, confiscating 1.4 million pounds of illegal narcotics with an estimated street value of $1.62 billion, according to the figures released by the Department of Homeland Security.
The Homeland Security figures also show that CBP inspectors and officers at the nation's 300 official land, air and sea ports of entry made 47,744 drug seizures worth an estimated $1 billion; seized more than $138 million in counterfeit goods, up from $94 million in 2003; and identified and arrested more than 23,000 people with criminal records — including 84 murder suspects, 37 suspected kidnappers, 151 wanted on charges of sexual assault, 212 robbery suspects and 2,630 others implicated in drug-related charges.
Those inspectors and officers also processed 428 million passengers and pedestrians, including 262 million aliens, denying entry to more than 643,000 aliens under U.S. law.
CBP Commissioner Robert C. Bonner attributed the increases to the reorganization under the new Department of Homeland Security, which allowed him to clarify the lines of authority and to give the new 42,000-member agency a clear mission.
He said the March 2003 unification of Customs, Immigration and Naturalization Service and Agriculture Department inspectors with the Border Patrol brought "an unprecedented transformation in the way people and goods arriving at American ports of entry are processed."
"With additional resources and improved technology, America's borders are safer and more secure than when border responsibilities were fragmented among different agencies," he said. "CBP has moved aggressively to secure the flow of legitimate travelers and trade into our country, and the staggering amount of apprehensions and detentions prove it."
The Border Patrol helped identify and arrest 23,000 criminal suspects through a new biometrics fingerprint identification technology that allows agents to search CBP's Automated Biometrics Identification System and the FBI's criminal fingerprint database simultaneously.
The new system went on line late last year at all 148 Border Patrol stations throughout the country.
The agency had long been ignored as a part of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), where it was often confronted with confusing chains of command and conflicting priorities.
... more at linked article
bolded for emphasis
The numbers above are just staggering. These are just the people that are getting caught and stopped, never mind the numbers that have somehow evaded detection and/or capture as they try to come in.
What's worse, the additional numbers within the numbers on the number of hardened criminals that are also trying to enter the country.
As much as I hate government bureaucracies, this is an area where I sincerely we are getting our money's worth, and if necessary, really hope we spend a lot more. We need secure borders, and sensible immigration policies that track people who enter the country and really know who is coming and going through the border.
By Jerry Seper
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehended 1.15 million illegal aliens last year trying to sneak into the United States between the nation's land ports of entry, more than 3,100 a day — a 24 percent increase over the year before.
The agents, part of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), also made 8,577 drug seizures, confiscating 1.4 million pounds of illegal narcotics with an estimated street value of $1.62 billion, according to the figures released by the Department of Homeland Security.
The Homeland Security figures also show that CBP inspectors and officers at the nation's 300 official land, air and sea ports of entry made 47,744 drug seizures worth an estimated $1 billion; seized more than $138 million in counterfeit goods, up from $94 million in 2003; and identified and arrested more than 23,000 people with criminal records — including 84 murder suspects, 37 suspected kidnappers, 151 wanted on charges of sexual assault, 212 robbery suspects and 2,630 others implicated in drug-related charges.
Those inspectors and officers also processed 428 million passengers and pedestrians, including 262 million aliens, denying entry to more than 643,000 aliens under U.S. law.
CBP Commissioner Robert C. Bonner attributed the increases to the reorganization under the new Department of Homeland Security, which allowed him to clarify the lines of authority and to give the new 42,000-member agency a clear mission.
He said the March 2003 unification of Customs, Immigration and Naturalization Service and Agriculture Department inspectors with the Border Patrol brought "an unprecedented transformation in the way people and goods arriving at American ports of entry are processed."
"With additional resources and improved technology, America's borders are safer and more secure than when border responsibilities were fragmented among different agencies," he said. "CBP has moved aggressively to secure the flow of legitimate travelers and trade into our country, and the staggering amount of apprehensions and detentions prove it."
The Border Patrol helped identify and arrest 23,000 criminal suspects through a new biometrics fingerprint identification technology that allows agents to search CBP's Automated Biometrics Identification System and the FBI's criminal fingerprint database simultaneously.
The new system went on line late last year at all 148 Border Patrol stations throughout the country.
The agency had long been ignored as a part of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), where it was often confronted with confusing chains of command and conflicting priorities.
... more at linked article
bolded for emphasis
The numbers above are just staggering. These are just the people that are getting caught and stopped, never mind the numbers that have somehow evaded detection and/or capture as they try to come in.
What's worse, the additional numbers within the numbers on the number of hardened criminals that are also trying to enter the country.
As much as I hate government bureaucracies, this is an area where I sincerely we are getting our money's worth, and if necessary, really hope we spend a lot more. We need secure borders, and sensible immigration policies that track people who enter the country and really know who is coming and going through the border.