U.S. Department of Justice
Immigration and Naturalization Service
Washington, DC 20536

Contact: Media Services
Office of Public Affairs
(202) 514-2648 Fax: (202) 514-1776

EMBARGOED UNTIL 1:45 P.M. February 17, 1999

NEWS RELEASE

INS Deploys More Than 1,600 New Positions Across the United States
1,000 New Border Patrol Agents will Strengthen Border Operations

WASHINGTON – The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) continues to strengthen its enforcement capabilities and improve service delivery by deploying more than 1,600 new positions across the country, INS Commissioner Doris Meissner announced today. The new positions are part of the FY 1999 budget that totaled a record $3.9 billion. One thousand new Border Patrol agents will be deployed, most to the Southwest border, to strengthen and expand coverage in Texas and Arizona and to disrupt smuggling rings that have moved their operations to the El Centro, California area in response to enforcement effectiveness in San Diego. INS will also deploy positions to the northern border, the first increase of new agents to the northern border since before 1990.

"The Clinton Administration is committed to continued strengthening of our enforcement operations. The deployment of the 1,000 Border Patrol agents and associated support personnel underscores this commitment," Commissioner Meissner said. The new FY 1999 deployments bring the Border Patrol total to about 9,000 agents servicewide, exceeding by almost 2,000 agents President Clinton's commitment to increase the number of Border Patrol agents to 7,000 by the year 1999. The new agents will be assigned to sectors along the 2,000 miles of the Southwest border. INS will send 485 agents to Texas, 15 to New Mexico, 83 to California, 395 to Arizona and 22 to three locations on the northern border.

"This deployment builds on the success of our operations in major illegal crossing corridors. As we have gained control in these areas, we are broadening our operational focus to extend our control of the flow of illegal traffic along other areas of the Southwest border, from Brownsville to San Diego," said Border Patrol Chief Gus De La Viña.

To handle increased traffic, ensure effective enforcement at U.S. and overseas airports and keep passenger processing time under 45 minutes, 100 new Immigration Inspectors will be deployed to airports in Anchorage, Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Miami, Newark, Phoenix, San Francisco, Seattle, Aruba and Ireland.

The FY 1999 deployment also allows INS to focus resources on its goal of providing consistent, high-quality customer service nationwide. The FY 1999 funding provides for 200 term adjudicators to reduce the backlog of naturalization applications in Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, San Francisco, Boston, Dallas and Houston, where the current wait is 15 months or longer. The citizenship process nationwide will also be improved with the deployment of an additional 100 Immigration Information Officers to INS Service Centers to assist with application processing.

"These 300 new positions dedicated to the citizenship caseload will help deliver better customer service to our nation's legal immigrants," Meissner said. Servicewide, INS will also deploy 90 detention and deportation positions to manage 400 new beds at Port Isabel, Texas and 11 positions to provide additional staff to support an increase of 126 juvenile beds. In addition, INS is deploying 36 management and administration positions to oversee construction projects and 10 positions for the Office of Internal Audit. Deployment plans for additional resources for interior enforcement for FY 1999 have not yet been finalized.