WASHINGTON -- A week ago, DEA administrator Asa Hutchinson was barely noticed as he traveled through San Diego attending town meetings. Yesterday, he was named by President Bush to take on what may be one of the toughest jobs in the administration: that of border czar.

A former congressman and prosecutor from Arkansas, the 51-year- old Hutchinson was selected to serve as undersecretary for border and transportation security under the Department of Homeland Security.

Within the massive bureaucracy, Hutchinson would oversee most functions of the existing Customs Service, Coast Guard and Immigration and Naturalization Service, including the Border Patrol.

"He's got a lot on his platter, the biggest of the boxes in the Department of Homeland Security," said Angela Kelly, an analyst with the National Immigration Forum.

Hutchinson's greatest moment in the limelight came when he served as one of the House managers prosecuting the case against President Clinton during his impeachment trial on the Senate floor.

A protege of Attorney General John Ashcroft, Hutchinson has been chief of the Drug Enforcement Administration for the past 14 months. He took his recent trip to San Diego to tout the agency's crackdown on Ecstasy, an illegal drug popular among young people.

Two decades ago, Hutchinson, at 31, was selected by President Reagan to be U.S. attorney for western Arkansas. While prosecutor, he earned a citation from the FBI for prosecuting a terrorist group, at a time when terrorism wasn't on most people's minds.

Hutchinson, married and the father of four, was in the midst of his third term in Congress when he was named DEA administrator.

If approved by Congress, Hutchinson will take over border security at a time when the Immigration and Naturalization Service would be split into two bureaus -- one for enforcement and the other for handling applications for green cards, work permits, citizenship and other immigration benefits.

Immigration advocates say they are taking a wait-and-see attitude about Hutchinson's role, but several expressed concern that the Bush administration would downplay the service function in favor of law enforcement.

"He's got to deal with the Border Patrol, investigations, inspections, detentions and intelligence, but there are also a big chunk of immigration-related functions linked to services, and we can't walk away from that," said Kelly of the National Immigration Forum.

Dan Griswold, an analyst with the Cato Institute, a Washington think tank, described Hutchinson as "respected as a person and an administrator."

"He focused on the war on drugs, though that is pretty far removed from all the issues of economic migration and the work force needs of the U.S.," Griswold said. "Like so many things, what is going to happen is so up in the air."

Immigration advocates said their concerns that service will take a back seat to enforcement in the new Department of Homeland Security were reinforced by the Bush administration's announcement yesterday that Michael Garcia, also a former prosecutor, would be named acting INS commissioner.

"You have Hutchinson and Garcia -- two prosecutors -- and you see Ashcroft's stamp all over the agency," said one official who declined to be identified.

Garcia, who replaces James W. Ziglar on Nov. 30, is assistant secretary for export enforcement at the Department of Commerce.

Credit: COPLEY NEWS SERVICE

A week ago, DEA administrator Asa Hutchinson was barely noticed as he traveled through San Diego attending town meetings. Yesterday, he was named by President Bush to take on what may be one of the toughest jobs in the administration: that of border czar.

A former congressman and prosecutor from Arkansas, the 51-year- old Hutchinson was selected to serve as undersecretary for border and transportation security under the Department of Homeland Security.

Two decades ago, Hutchinson, at 31, was selected by President Reagan to be U.S. attorney for western Arkansas. While prosecutor, he earned a citation from the FBI for prosecuting a terrorist group, at a time when terrorism wasn't on most people's minds.