Well the Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill passed the US Senate today in 68-32 margin after a bipartisan effort that was all about compromise — creating a 13-year path for citizenship while at the same time putting millions of dollars to increase Border Patrol presence and more because, as you know, that border is still an insecure menace.
The immigration effort in the Senate benefited from a series of external factors that helped draw public attention away from the bill as it made its way from a set of principles to a fully formed agreement to a 1,000-plus-page bill with amendments attached. The Boston Marathon bombings occurred on the eve of the bipartisan group’s planned rollout of the bill, and shortly afterward came controversies involving the Internal Revenue Service and the National Security Agency. Even this week, as the bill headed to final passage, major Supreme Court rulings shared the spotlight.
Now, however, all eyes are turned to the House. At a Congressional softball game Wednesday night, Mr. Schumer ran into Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the Democratic leader. Mr. Schumer, an aide recalled, told Ms. Pelosi that he thought the bipartisan group would be able to deliver 68 votes for the bill in the Senate — and that he wanted to talk about how to use that momentum to move forward in the House.
[h/t: Arizona Republic]
This article appears in Jun 27 – Jul 3, 2013.
The border security issue is a sideshow to let Republicans pretend to constituents that they’re doing something. Meanwhile, the flood of cheap labor can continue for their Big Business constituents and illegal immigration will continue unabated.
Big Sis Janet will personally sign an order to put off ANY increase in the Border Security…we cannot stop all those Obama Voters from coming across.
The Republican HOUSE will kill the bill, Republicans do NOT want an immigration bill.
“Securing” the border is a myth. It can’t be done the way the right wing of the Republican party expects it to be done – stop every living creature from passing a line drawn in the sand (or hopping over or digging under a fence – regardless of the height or depth). The Senate bill calls for militarizing the border with Mexico. Have we declared war with one our most vital trade partners??? The only way to “secure” the border is to place an officer patroling about every twenty-five yards along it. Frankly, I’m not willing to pay that price.
By the way, did anyone notice that in the same Senate bill that two BP checkpoints in Vermont were removed because residents had to pass through them regularly because they were on the only roads going into and out of their communities? They were an “inconvenience.” Maybe someone should talk to anyone who lives or tries to earn a living in Tubac. Making tourists pass through a BP checkpoint doesn’t exactly encourage them to return and spend their money in their community in the future.
It’s BILLIONS Mari, not millions. The 20,000 extra border patrol agents alone are estimated to cost an absurd $30 billion, plus another $8 billion worth of stupid fence that doesn’t even work, plus untold billions for tech. And we already spend more on “securing the border” than on all other federal law enforcement combined.