From the National Center for Public Policy Research in Washington:

“Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is fast-tracking over 100 federal land-acquisition bills for action during the lame-duck session, despite warnings from Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and the National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers that Reid’s effort, if successful, would harm U.S. efforts to block illegal entry and drug smuggling in border areas.

The omnibus bill includes over 100 federal land-acquisition bills and is expected to come up for a vote this week.

‘If passed, the mega-package would buy up and tie up millions of acres of land in over 13 states,’ said Dana Joel Gattuso, director of the Center for Environmental and Regulatory Affairs at the National Center for Public Policy Research, in a just-released National Policy Analysis paper about the omnibus legislation. ‘Many of the bills [now in the omnibus] failed to pass because they are considered controversial. In particular, legislation sponsored by Senator Bingaman (D-NM) would designate over 100,000 acres of land at or near the New Mexico-Mexico border as federal wilderness area, increasing the threat of drug smuggling into the U.S. from Mexico.’

The package is being considered even though the Government Accountability Office is warning that the Border Patrol is losing the fight over illegal entry and drug smuggling in border areas where lands are owned and managed by the federal government. According to a just-released GAO report, ‘Border Patrol apprehensions have not kept pace with the estimated number of illegal entries, indicating that threats to these areas may be increasing.’

This follows a similar report by the GAO last October that found environmental protection laws on federal lands are limiting border patrol officials’ ability to detect and stop illegal aliens.

In a letter quoted by Gattuso, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said wilderness designation such as those in Reid’s omnibus can be ‘detrimental’ to border security operations.

Gattuso also notes that the National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers has weighed in with a warning that as federal wilderness areas are designated, ‘the criminal element moves in because the restrictive wilderness or refuge status… effectively prevents all law enforcement from effectively working the area.’