FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AG THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 1995 CONTACT: ROB DANIELS (602) 281-1391 OR RON ROGERS (714) 643-4739 RENO ANNOUNCES NEW AGENTS & RESOURCES TO BOOST OPERATION SAFEGUARD AND CUT ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION Biggest Increase Ever in Deploying Agents and Equipment to Arizona Border ARIZONA -- Attorney General Janet Reno returned to Nogales today to announce that Arizona will receive an unprecedented increase in border enforcement resources as well as to review steps already taken to stem illegal immigration. Reno's announcement was part of the Justice Department's and the INS' comprehensive Southwest Border Strategy all along the California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas borders. The plan initially concentrated resources at the busiest crossing points. As a result of the progress made securing these busy crossing points, traffic has shifted to other parts of the border -- including Arizona. The border strategy anticipates these shifts and directs additional assistance to those areas experiencing increases in alien traffic. Reno said today that, "We know that as a result of the great progress we have made securing our borders in San Diego and El Paso, alien traffic has increased in Nogales significantly and we are moving to address it." "We announced Operation Safeguard here in Arizona 80 days ago -- and we are now sending 100 new agents to the Tucson Sector, and are providing Arizona's Border Patrol stations with critical technology to free agents from administrative duties and to help them catch criminal aliens, to make this plan a reality." Reno stated her commitment to assure that Operation Safeguard is as successful in Arizona as Operation Gatekeeper and Operation Hold the Line have been in San Diego and El Paso, respectively. She said that she expects the new efforts to dramatically improve INS' ability to control illegal immigration in Arizona. The new resources directed to Arizona and other states to control illegal immigration were appropriated by Congress in the FY95 budgets of the Department of Justice and the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Many of these resources were authorized by the President's 1994 Crime Bill. The resources that will be deployed in Arizona under Operation Safeguard include the following: 100 new agents. These new agents, coupled with agents added last year, will result in an almost 50 percent increase in the strength of the Tucson sector, over where it stood two years ago. 60 of the 100 new agents will be sent to Nogales and 40 to nearby Douglas. New fences, lights and roads. In the area that is most heavily trafficked by illegal aliens, border security will be enhanced by the installation and construction of $250,000 worth of fencing lighting & roads. Additional inspectors for Ports of Entry. Nine new inspectors will be assigned to the Arizona ports of entry, an increase of 7% over the number of inspectors in 1994. The additional personnel will strengthen INS' ability to detect illegal entries and facilitate legal entries at ports in the state. Two high technology systems -- IDENT and IBIS. These systems will be installed and upgraded to help INS officials in Arizona quickly detain and prosecute criminal aliens. The systems will use fingerprints and access other computerized data to identify repeat border crossers and criminals who are trying to enter the U.S. Criminal alien detention facilities. Additional resources being deployed to crack down on criminal aliens include a new detention facility recently opened with 500 beds reserved exclusively for the Institutional Hearing Program (IHP) that will streamline and expedite the deportation of criminal aliens. Assistance to the State of Arizona. Already, the federal government has sent Arizona $991,900 as the first down payment to help reimburse the State for the costs of incarcerating criminal aliens. Reno further affirmed the Administration's commitment to facilitate legal traffic across the Arizona-Mexican border. She pledged to reduce the time it takes to apply for and receive a border crossing card from five months to 30 days. ### 95-007