WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress has focused on fortifying the nation’s borders to crack down on illegal immigration.

But officials from border communities say more money and attention also needs to go to beefing up legal entry points for those who cross daily for business and pleasure.

Members of the Border Trade Alliance gathered for a two-day conference in Washington Monday to discuss the latest strains on cross-border traffic and commerce.

Some of the needs are as simple as placing bathrooms near inspectors’ booths in Pharr, Texas, so vehicle lanes are not shut down when an inspector needs to take a break, Maria Luisa O’Connell, Border Trade Alliance president, said Monday.

Other needs will take more money, such as filling thousands of port staff vacancies.

The port needs have become more urgent as the administration has tightened security with tougher identification requirements for border crossers and heavy commerce that has steadily grown since the signing of the North America Free Trade Agreement.

O’Connell said border officials are reporting fewer vehicles and pedestrians crossing at bridges, but longer wait times.

They fear longer wait times are keeping people from the border restaurants, hotels and shopping centers that thrive on cross-border traffic.

But the needs far outstrip current funding for border infrastructure, O’Connell said.

The estimated cost for a new port of entry at Otay Mesa is about $550 million to $660 million. Customs and Border Protection estimates it needs $500 million a year for the next decade to handle security and cross border trade and travel, she said.

The General Service Administration’s 2008 appropriations for border infrastructure and ports of entry total $339.5 million, O’Connell said.

Rep. Silvestre Reyes, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, introduced a bill Monday authorizing $1 billion for the General Services Administration during 2009 to 2013 to improve existing ports of entry and border security.

He wants to add 5,000 more full-time Customs and Border Protection officers for ports of entry inspections over five years.

It also authorizes more than 1,200 agriculture specialists and 350 more border security support personnel.

The legislation only authorizes the spending, the money will have to be approved through the appropriations process.

President Bush’s budget called for adding 539 Customs and Border Protection officers.

Colleen Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, has called that number completely inadequate, adding up to about 2 new staffers per port. Her group has called for at 1,600 to 4,000 new officers.

In a January report, the Government Accountability Office said CBP officers and managers told its investigators insufficient staffing is contributing to morale problems, fatigue, lack of backup support and safety issues.