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<h1>Immigration deal would boost defense manufacturers</h1>
<h3>
By Matea Gold, <span class="">Published: July 1</span>
</h3>
<p>The border security plan the Senate approved last week includes
unusual language mandating the purchase of specific models of
helicopters and radar equipment for deployment along the U.S.-Mexican
border, providing a potential windfall worth tens of millions of dollars
to top defense contractors.</p>
<p>The legislation would require the <a href="http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/border_security/border_patrol/">U.S. Border Patrol</a>
to acquire, among other items, six Northrop Grumman airborne radar
systems that cost $9.3 million each, 15 Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopters
that average more than $17 million apiece, and eight light enforcement
helicopters made by American Eurocopter that sell for about $3 million
each.</p><p>The legislation also calls for 17 UH-1N helicopters made by
Bell Helicopter, an older model that the company no longer manufactures.
</p><p>Watchdog groups and critics said that these and other detailed
requirements would create a troubling end-run around the competitive
bidding process and that they are reminiscent of old-fashioned earmarks —
spending items that lawmakers insert into legislation to benefit
specific projects or recipients. <span>In the past several years, Congress has had a moratorium on earmarks.</span>
</p><p>The language was included in a $46 billion border security
package the Senate approved last week as part of a comprehensive
immigration bill. The so-called border surge — an additional $38 billion
in spending — was added in the final week of negotiations to attract
more GOP support for the measure, which passed with 68 votes, including
14 from Republicans.</p><p>The legislation would spend $30 billion over
the next decade to hire more than 19,000 new Border Patrol agents, an
undertaking that would double the size of the force and that many
immigration experts consider wasteful and unnecessary. </p><p>The
measure also would devote $7.5 billion to build 350 miles of fencing
along the U.S.-Mexican border and $4.5 billion to buy new border
technology. The legislation would have to be fully implemented, along
with electronic visa and employment verification systems, before
immigrants could receive green cards.</p><p>Sens. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.)
and John Hoeven (R-N.D.), who co-sponsored the plan, said the provisions
were aimed at assuaging the concerns of Republicans who are wary about
creating a path to citizenship without tougher border measures. </p><p>“I was just trying to work with our caucus to get as many of our guys to participate,” Hoeven said.</p><p>That
approach did not win over holdouts such as Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.),
who said: “Taxpayer funds should enhance border security, not provide
border stimulus for contractors. Unfortunately, the Senate bill does
exactly that.”</p><p>The list of equipment included in the legislation
was drawn from a technological needs assessment developed by the U.S.
Customs and Border Protection agency in 2010, according to a senior
Department of Homeland Security official, who spoke on the condition of
anonymity to describe the internal process. Agency staff members
compiled the list at the request of Homeland Security Secretary Janet
Napolitano after she stopped <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/14/AR2011011406893.html">a virtual-fence project that was plagued by cost overruns and delays</a>.</p><p>Border
Patrol officials provided the list to congressional staffers who had
asked what the agency needed to effectively control the border.</p><p>In
separate interviews last week, Corker and Hoeven said they decided to
add the list to the legislation to help win over GOP senators who did
not trust Napolitano to carry out a border plan.</p><p>The two senators
noted that the proposal would allow Napolitano to substitute equivalent
brands of technology as long as she notified Congress within 60 days.
“If they want to buy something better, they can,” Corker said.</p><p>But
critics said that because the measure prescribes specific products, the
agency probably would not seek alternatives. “Lawmakers have put their
thumb on the scale for particular products and technologies and that is
hard for an agency to ignore,” said Steve Ellis, vice president of the
nonpartisan Taxpayers for Common Sense, which scrutinizes federal
spending.</p><p>The $4.5 billion set aside for technology would be a
boon for defense contractors, who are looking for opportunities as the
United States continues to reduce its presence in Afghanistan. </p><p>The
parent corporations of the companies that manufacture the products
listed in the bill and their employees have given nearly $11.5 million
to federal candidates and campaigns since 2009, according to the
nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. About half of that came from
Northrop Grumman. </p><p>Neither Corker nor Hoeven has received substantial donations from the companies or the defense sector overall.</p><p>
“We’re proud of our long partnership with the Department of Homeland
Security and are honored they have repeatedly chosen to acquire our
helicopters for their important missions,” said Ed Van Winkle, law
enforcement sales manager for American Eurocopter. “We stand ready to
produce and deliver additional aircraft customized to Customs and Border
Protection requirements should Congress authorize and fund their
procurement.” </p><p>Representatives of Northrop Grumman, Sikorsky and Bell declined to comment.</p><p>Most
of the equipment required by the legislation is identified by category,
not by brand. Among other items, the bill calls for 4,595 unattended
ground sensors, 104 radiation isotope identification devices and 53
fiber-optic tank inspection scopes — and specifies how many should be
deployed in each Border Patrol sector. It also requires the purchase of
four new drones, on top of 10 unmanned aircraft that the Border Patrol
already owns.</p><p>The items listed by name were identified that way on
the border agency’s wish list, according to Senate staff members
involved in drafting the plan, who discussed the process on the
condition of anonymity. <span>They said </span>the proposal would not override contracting rules that require competitive bidding. </p><p>But government watchdogs said it would be difficult to have an open bidding process for equipment identified by brand and model.</p>
<p>“The
agency is statutorily required to buy the specific items from the
listed vendors,” said Scott Amey, general counsel for the Project on
Government Oversight, an independent group that works to expose
overspending and corruption. “I’m unsure how an agency could hold a
competition.” </p><p>
One big-ticket item on the list is the VADER radar system, an airborne
technology operated from drones that Northrop Grumman developed for the
Pentagon’s research arm. The Border Patrol has been testing one of the
systems on loan from the Defense Department to detect migrants
attempting to cross the border illegally, officials said. This year, the
agency received $18.6 million to buy two of the radar systems<span>
<span>, and the immigration bill would add six more.</span>
</span>
</p><p>The Black Hawk helicopters required under the plan include five
of the latest high-tech models with digital cockpits. As for the
American Eurocopter aircraft, the patrol would be required to add eight
AS-350 models to the 85 it already has in its fleet.</p><p>The
legislation spells out how new border patrol agents would be deployed,
requiring the agency to assign 38,405 officers to the U.S.-Mexican
border by Sept. 30, 2021.</p><p>The Border Patrol employs a record
21,000 agents, up from about 10,000 in 2004. In its most recent budget
request, the department did not seek new agents.
</p><p>Many experts on border security say that doubling the force is impractical and a poor use of resources <span>and that </span>the
money could be better spent on workplace inspections or the E-Verify
system that employers can use to check the citizenship of applicants.</p><p>“There
is a lot in this border security plan that is fighting the last war,”
said Doris Meissner, who was a top Clinton administration immigration
official. </p><p>Homeland Security officials are confident that they can
recruit and train the surge of agents required under the bill.
Spokesman Peter Boogaard said the measure would “build on this
administration’s historic border security gains.”</p><p>Hoeven and
Corker said they settled on hiring 20,000 agents in large part because
the number fell midway between proposals from other GOP senators.</p><p>“I wish I could tell you it was scientific,” Corker said, adding, “We felt like this was something that would get the job done.”</p><p>
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</p><p>Alice Crites contributed to this report.</p></div>
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