The Senate Appropriations Committee has passed a $37.6 billion fiscal 2008 funding bill for DHS that provides $570 million to hire an additional 3,000 border patrol agents and support staff as well as $1 billion for fencing, infrastructure and technology.
According to the committee Congress has increased the number of border agents by 4,000, the number of immigration enforcement personnel by 1,373 and the number of detention beds by 9,150 since 2004.
The appropriations bill, a 2.2 percent increase over the administration’s request, adds over $240 million and 700 positions above the request for immigration enforcement, including $146 million for 4,000 additional detention beds, brining the total number of beds to 31,500.
The bill also funds an additional 30 criminal alien program teams " they track aliens out of the country when they are released from custody " bringing the total to 138.
The measure also provides only $5 million for DHS personnel programs, which would effectively mean no funding for the alternative personnel program formerly known as MaxHR, according to federal union officials.
