MOST ILLEGAL ALIENS FREED ON BAIL, OWN RECOGNIZANCE.

Byline: Lisa Friedman Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - Border Patrol agents arrested nearly 100,000 non-Mexicans illegally crossing into the United States through Mexico over the past eight months and let the vast majority of them go free on bail or their own recognizance, immigration officials told a U.S. Senate panel Tuesday.

About 70 percent of so-called non-Mexican illegal immigrants captured along the southern border of the United States are released on their own recognizance to appear at a future deportation hearing, Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar told the Senate Judiciary Committee. Few ever show up.

The rise in non-Mexican illegal immigrants captured while crossing the Mexican border has been of increasing concern to lawmakers since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Many view the trend with alarm, seeing a potential back door for terrorists.

``Those of us who represent states along the border have long been concerned with the potential for terrorists to smuggle themselves across the border,'' Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., said during a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Increasingly, illegal immigrants ``come from countries all over the world, most of the time flying to Mexico and then sneaking into the country on foot,'' he said. ``We do not know if they intend to simply find work or engage in acts of terror.''

Because many of the arrested non-Mexicans come from nations, such as Brazil, where they are not required to have a visa to fly into Mexico, they can't be easily sent back to their countries.

Aguilar said the dearth of detention beds - there are only about 20,000 - is a prime reason for the rise in the number of non-Mexican illegals released on bail or just their written promise to appear for hearings. Last year about 47 percent were released just on their own recognizance, he said.

``Definitely, detention would in fact equal deterrence,'' he said.

C. Stewart Verdery Jr., the former Department of Homeland Security point man on border control issues, said fixing the problem will take big money.

``If you want to build an expansive system that can handle the influx, it will take a massive amount of money,'' said Verdery, who now works for a Republican consulting firm.

He also advocated expanding the expedited removal process for border agents to deport undocumented aliens without hearings. That, he said, would cut down on the number of illegal immigrants who are released and fail to show up for deportation proceedings.

``It will end the perception that we currently have a catch-and-release policy,'' he said.

Lisa Friedman, [phone]

lisa.friedman(at)langnews.com