Dan Stein of the Federation of Americans for Immigration Reform reports that liberal House Democrats have begun to pounce on the Bush administration’s border security lapses:

I attended a Capitol Hill hearing today on “Interior Immigration Enforcement Resources.” No one could have missed the fact that Democrats are preparing to pounce on the Bush administration’s failure to fully fund authorized detention space and ICE enforcement agents. Time after time, Congresswoman Maxine Waters — a newcomer to the House Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims — underscored the hypocrisy in the administration’s failure to live up its public commitments to improve overall immigration enforcement. Her comments were echoed by Texas Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee and California Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez. Strange coming from people with no real track record supporting immigration enforcement.

Senate Democrats launched similar attacks last week:

Senate Democrats yesterday challenged President Bush’s decision to hire 210 new Border Patrol agents for next fiscal year, saying he reneged on a promise to add 2,000 agents when he signed the intelligence overhaul bill in December.

Sen. Robert C. Byrd, West Virginia Democrat and ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said the Bush proposal, submitted as part of the Homeland Security Department’s $41.1 billion budget, “ignores the stark reality of the resources needed to secure the homeland….”

Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont Democrat and ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he was “not happy” with the president’s decision, noting that 200 of the 2,000 new Border Patrol agents were supposed to be assigned along the U.S.-Canada border.

Mr. Leahy, also an Appropriations homeland security subcommittee member, said Mr. Bush had failed to heed what he described as a congressional mandate to substantially increase the number of agents along the northern and southern borders.

“The administration is ignoring the call for substantial increases in staffing for the Border Patrol,” he said.

I’ve said before that the only thing saving the GOP open-borders elite on this issue has been the Democrats’ stupidity. Not any more.

Previously:
- Stiffing the Border Patrol
- Stiffing the Border Patrol, Pt II
- Hillary Rodham Buchanan?

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