ImmigrationBorder security provision deal makes immigration bill more acceptable to skeptical lawmakers
Senators working on the immigration overhaul bill have reached a tentative deal on a border security amendment to the bill, a deal which likely would persuade more Republican lawmakers to support the measure. One of the authors of the amendment, Senator Bob Corker (R-Tennessee), said he hoped it would persuade not only more Senate Republicans to support the bill, but many House Republicans as well. “For people who are concerned about border security, once they see what is in this bill [after his amendment is adopted], it is almost overkill,” he said.
A border fence ends abruptly just outsie an Arizona town // Source: bigstockphoto.com
Senators working on the immigration overhaul bill have reached a tentative deal on a border security amendment to the bill, a deal which likely would persuade more Republican lawmakers to support the measure.
Senator Bob Corker (R-Tennessee) said on Thursday that the deal is not finished and that some of the details still need to be worked out. Corker and Senator John Hoeven (R-North Dakota) negotiated the stronger border security provisions wit members of the Gang of Eight, who drafted the immigration bill.
The Hill reports that since not all of the specifics in the amendments have been made public, it is difficult to predict just how many Republicans will support the bill, but Corker said he was confident that more Republican senators will now move to support the bill.
“There’s some members on our side that I think this is going to meet their test from the standpoint of border security,” Corker stated in an interview on MSNBC.
Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida), who said he would not support the bill unless its border security provisions were strengthened, added that the amendment Corker was working on would improve border security exponentially.
“If you look at what’s being proposed here, this is a dramatic expansion and improvement in border security that I hope will allow finally for this legislation to have the support it needs,” Rubio told Fox News.
The original provisions in the bill would double the number of border agents from 20,000 to 40,000 and fund the construction of 700 miles of additional border fencing. The bill also includes funding for advanced border security technologies such as infrared sensors, drones, and other devices.
Republican senators have been pushing for tougher border security provisions, but they have not been successful to this point. On Thursday an amendment drafted by Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas), which would have set up mandatory border security “triggers,” failed by a 54-43 vote.
The tentative Corker deal has already won some Republican support. Senator Mark Kirk (R-Illinois) said on Thursday that once the provisions are adopted, he would “be proud to vote for a bill that secures our border and respects our heritage as an immigrant nation.”
The few detail that have emerged about the amendment show that it does not include a biometric entry-exit system at border crossings and airports, which some Republicans have been fighting for, and that DHS will continue to be responsible for developing a border security plan, not Congress (two weeks ago, in a move to placate some of the opponents of the bill, Rubio suggested that Congress, rather than DHS, would be entrusted with the developing the border security plan).
The opposition to the bill among House Republicans is stronger than among Senate Republicans. Still, Corker on Thursday said the language of his amendment would help convince House Republicans to support the bill.
“For people who are concerned about border security, once they see what is in this bill, it is almost overkill,” he said. “I think if that’s the issue people have, I think everyone working together has come up with a way to deal with that issue,” Corker said on MSNBC.
“I do hope we can send it over to the House with some momentum.”
The Washington Post reports that news of the deal on border security upset several of the largest outside groups opposing the bill. NumbersUSA, a group which advocates lower levels of immigration, said it would urge its members to call senators in opposition to the measure.
Roy Beck, the group’s president, called the new agreement “a desperate political move by pro-amnesty forces to provide cover to pass a bill that would otherwise not pass. The amendment still allows the bill to give amnesty work permits and legalization before any additional enforcement” and allows for a “massive increase” in foreign workers.
