By Gallego H.C.R. No. 256 77R11496 ELG-D HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 1-1 WHEREAS, The United States Border Patrol was established by 1-2 an act of Congress in 1924 in response to increasing illegal 1-3 immigration; the initial force of 450 officers was given 1-4 responsibility for combating illegal entries and the growing 1-5 business of alien smuggling; and 1-6 WHEREAS, The Border Patrol has since grown from a handful of 1-7 mounted agents patrolling desolate areas along U.S. borders to 1-8 today's dynamic workforce of more than 8,000 men and women 1-9 supported by sophisticated technology, vehicles, and aircraft; 1-10 since 1986, the Border Patrol has made more than eight million 1-11 apprehensions nationwide; and 1-12 WHEREAS, Each year, more than 1,000 Border Patrol agents 1-13 spend 19 weeks in intensive training in immigration law, statutory 1-14 authority, police techniques, and Spanish at the Border Patrol 1-15 Training Academy; and 1-16 WHEREAS, The academy has had many homes; the first academy 1-17 was established in El Paso, Texas, in 1934, and was later moved to 1-18 Los Fresnos, Texas; and 1-19 WHEREAS, In the 1970s, during the Carter Administration, the 1-20 academy was moved to Glynco, Georgia; since that time, the training 1-21 needs of the Border Patrol have far exceeded the capacity of the 1-22 Glynco location and a temporary satellite facility was opened in 1-23 Charleston, South Carolina to handle the overflow; and 1-24 WHEREAS, These facilities are no longer adequate to meet the 2-1 Border Patrol's growing training needs; and 2-2 WHEREAS, All new Border Patrol agents are assigned to the 2-3 southwest border upon graduation from the academy; and 2-4 WHEREAS, Texas comprises more than half of the southwest 2-5 border, making it an ideal location for Border Patrol training; 2-6 now, therefore, be it 2-7 RESOLVED, That the 77th Legislature of the State of Texas 2-8 hereby respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to 2-9 relocate the U.S. Border Patrol Training Academy to the southwest 2-10 Texas border region; and, be it further 2-11 RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official 2-12 copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to 2-13 the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of 2-14 the senate of the United States Congress, and to all the members of 2-15 the Texas delegation to the congress with the request that this 2-16 resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a 2-17 memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.