Border Security Initiative Gets Mixed Reviews

On Tuesday, March 24, DHS Secretary Napolitano announced the administration's $700 million southwest border security initiative calling for "additional personnel, increased intelligence capability and better coordination with state, local and Mexican law enforcement authorities." However, some federal and state lawmakers say more needs to be done.

A plan by President Barack Obama to send more federal agents to the Mexican border is inadequate to control growing drug violence in the two countries, an influential U.S. senator said on Wednesday, and he said he would seek $385 million more from Congress.

Senator Joseph Lieberman, chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, said he would try to quickly pass funding to hire 1,600 more Customs and Border Patrol agents and extra immigration officers, build up law enforcement centers and fight human trafficking....

"I don't think it's enough," Lieberman said at a hearing of his committee. "The danger here is clear and present. It threatens to get worse."

More reaction from elected officials here. And Investor's Business Daily also finds the plan wanting, noting that what it calls "a wall of bureaucracy" is an insufficient method for securing the border.

Update: The head of the Border Patrol union is underwhelmed by the plan. And HumanEvents.com is really underwhelmed.