SAN DIEGO -- A group advocating a tighter border said Monday it hopes the new head of homeland defense can fulfill his plan to improve communication between departments when it comes to immigration agencies.

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Ira Mehlman, head of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, said that former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge will have his work cut out for him when it comes to opening the lines of communication.

"Part of the problem has always been the lack of sharing of information between various law enforcement agencies in the United States," Mehlman said. "Something the INS may know that would be of interest to the FBI, the FBI doesn't have access to."

Ridge was sworn in earlier Monday as director of the new Cabinet-level Office of Homeland Defense, during a White House ceremony.

"We must open lines of communication and support like never before between agencies and departments, between federal and state and local entities, and between the public and private sectors," Ridge said. "The only turf we should be worried about protecting is the turf we stand on."

Mehlman and other members of the "Border Solution Task Force," which bills itself as a border watchdog, spoke at Montgomery Field, where two of the hijackers in the Sept. 11 attacks sought pilot training.

Members of the task force said the fact that many of the hijackers had expired or fake visas illustrates why immigration policy should be tightened.

"Why are we surprised that people who are here illegally did illegal things?" asked Peter Nunez, who was U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California from 1982-1988.

He blamed Congress for passing laws with no enforcement capability or resources, and said the Immigration and Naturalization Service and Border Patrol have become scapegoats for immigration problems.

"The INS can't cope with what they are supposed to do," Nunez said. "Congress has given the INS an overwhelming mission, and what you get are breakdowns."