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DETAILS OF PROPOSED FISCAL YEAR 2000 INS BUDGET RELEASED
The INS has requested an eight percent increase in its total requested budget for fiscal year 2000. The agency is requesting a total of $ 4.27 billion. The increased funding would allow the hiring of 306 new employees, and improve border control and detention facilities. In announcing its proposals for employing the funds, the INS stated its intention "to extend ongoing initiatives while maximizing the efficiency of its resources." The Service wants to continue working to improve customer service as well as furthering its multi-year plan for border and illegal immigration control.
Infrastructure. The FY 2000 budget includes $ 70.6 million for building projects, especially Border Patrol stations and detention facilities. Projects along the Texas border would receive $ 26.9 million, California, $ 12.8 million, and Arizona, $ 2.3 million. The money proposed for detention facilities is as follows: Texas, $ 11.2 million, California, $ 1 million, Arizona, $ 800,000, and Florida, $ 9.5 million, for the renovation of Krome Detention Center.
Border Management. The FY 2000 budget includes .2 million for the hiring of 121 new positions and technological improvements along the border. The INS hopes to accomplish the joint goals of improving the legal immigration process and of preventing contraband and undocumented immigrants from crossing. The number of Border Patrol agents will remain the same as in 1999, nearly 9000. Fifty million dollars of the funding is being requested to expand the Integrated Surveillance Intelligence System (ISIS), a high-tech border enforcement strategy that allows areas to be effectively monitored that used to be to remote to be adequately policed. This money will fund 14 new positions and 176 surveillance cameras. The remainder, $ 9.2 million, would be used to hire 87 new employees for Texas border stations, and to install two new SENTRI lanes, which allow for easier passage for frequent, low risk crossers.
Interior Enforcement. The FY 2000 budget includes $ 20 million to deal with immigration enforcement within the U.S. The budget embodies three main goals: tracking criminal aliens, improving transportation of detainees, and providing for 40 additional juvenile bed spaces. The INS plans to continue its cooperation with the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), and proposes a three-year process during which the Service will transfer all the data relevant for its purposes from the NCIC.
Naturalization. Naturalization remains the top priority of the INS, and the proposed funding for it in the budget is $ 124 million, plus a projected $ 688.6 million in fee receipts, which are typically the only source of funds for naturalization. The FY 2000 budget proposes an additional 200 adjudicators and additional support staff who would be dedicated to reviewing naturalization applications. The budget also proposes $ 26.2 million to continue development of a national telephone service that would provide information about eligibility, procedures, and individual case status.