Janet Napolitano: The border is less secure because of budget cuts

Yahoo News ^ | 3/4/2013 | Jim Avila, Richard Coolidge, and Jordyn Phelps

[South40]

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says that, although safety is her top priority, there is no way around cutting back on border patrol agents monitoring the country's borders because of the across-the-board spending cuts, known as "the sequester," that went into effect over the weekend.

"The number of border patrol hours that will need to be reduced equates to the equivalent of 5,000 border patrol agents, so we have fewer border patrol agents between the ports of entry," the secretary of homeland security told ABC's senior national correspondent Jim Avila in an exclusive interview. "We're going to do everything we can to minimize that impact on our nation's security, but that's just the plain fact of it."

When asked about the Department of Homeland Security's controversial decision to begin releasing illegal immigrants from jails across the country last week in preparation for sequestration, Napolitano said she was not involved in making the decision.

[eyeamok]

drug use has escalated to a level of acceptability

With the exception of marijuana, drug use in America has remained pretty constant since forever.