by Megan Neighbor

Arizona Daily Star

U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords held a conference call Monday to discuss her efforts to address border issues.

In her opening and closing comments, Giffords said she was angry “because the federal government has failed to secure the border, and this is unacceptable.”

She said she hoped to change that by encouraging more funding for the U.S. Border Patrol and projects such as Operation Stonegarden in the next U.S. budget.

Operation Stonegarden pays for local police efforts and equipment in support of border security.

Since 2004, the number of Border Patrol agents along the border has doubled, from 10,000 to 20,000, Giffords said.

However, she said that drug- and human-smuggling has increased sharply in recent years.

She hopes to mitigate future increases, in part, through legislation that requires legal border crossers to declare money kept on financial instruments called “stored-valued cards.” “A lot of them (human smugglers) have hundreds of thousands of dollars on those cards.”

Also joining her on the call were Matthew Allen, special agent in charge of Arizona for Immigration and Customs Enforcement; Border Patrol Tucson Sector Chief Victor Manjarrez Jr.; and David Gonzales, U.S. marshal in Arizona.