Research on the U.S. Border Patrol by Robert Lee Maril has helped to craft a bill that would increase surveillance equipment and staffing along the border with Mexico.

Maril wrote Patrolling Chaos: The U.S. Border Patrol in Deep South Texas, published in 2004. The book, based upon first-hand observation in the field, provides an unbiased account of life along the Rio Grande and the people who patrol the border. His findings about the conditions of the federal patrol officials contributed to a bill introduced Oct. 7 that proposes 2,500 to 3,500 new agents be hired annually during the next five years.

Maril said the legislation would improve the security of the United States-Mexico border as well as the treatment of both patrol agents and undocumented workers.

"Our borders are, at this point, wide open," Maril said. "This legislation will provide a more human working environment for agents by making them safer and better at what they do. At the same time, it will, through various provisions, provide for the more humane treatment of undocumented workers."