Sen. John McCain says the new border-security requirements in immigration-reform package that’s set to pass the Senate this week as “well over-sufficient” and promises the U.S.-Mexico border will be “the most militarized border since the fall of the Berlin Wall.”
McCain’s comments come one day after 67 senators approved a “border surge” amendment to the Gang of Eight’s legislation. The new proposal includes nearly 20,000 new Border Patrol agents—essentially doubling the current force—and funding for another 700 miles of fencing.
McCain himself expressed a bit of skepticism over the additional funding, which was included in an amendment from Republican John Hoeven of North Dakota and Democrat Bob Corker of Tennessee.
“Is it more than I would have recommended? Honestly, yes,” said McCain, who was one of the original Gang of Eight drafters of the bill. “But we’ve got to give people confidence. And by the way, if there’s anyone who still will argue that the border’s not secure after this, then border security is not their reason for opposing a path to citizenship for the people who are in this country illegally.”
As if on cue, McCain’s old pal, Sarah Palin, announced Sunday via Facebook that she remained opposed to the legislation , calling it a “pandering, rewarding-the-rule-breakers, still-no-border-security, special-interests-ridden, 24-lb disaster of a bill.”
Palin—who is essentially functioning as the id of the GOP conservatives—added that the bill “offers no solutions. It will barely slow the flow of illegal immigration, which means we can expect millions and millions of new illegal aliens in coming years.”
But the promise of the big surge was enough to flip Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer from a skeptic of the bill to a supporter.
Brewer told Fox News on Monday that she was “claiming victory for Arizona in regards to the border surge. I was writing to the federal government and to Sen. Schumer way back in June of 2010 in regards to the border surge that we needed to see completed before we moved forward.”
Plenty of the critics of the legislation remain. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who voted against ending debate on the immigration bill earlier this week, said he didn’t believe the bill would lead to a secure border.
“Despite the hard work and best efforts of our colleagues, I remain concerned that when it comes to the threshold question of border security, today’s assurances may well become tomorrow’s disappointments,” the Kentucky Republican said in a statement to the press. “And that’s to say nothing of the process that got us here. When I called for a debate on immigration earlier this month, a massive bill, pushed up against an artificial deadline, without any real opportunity for review or amendment isn’t what I had in mind.”
Vermont Democrat Pat Leahy said he would vote for the amended bill, but called it “a disappointment to me and to many” because it had become “a potential recipe for waste, fraud and abuse.”
“The modification to my amendment reads like a Christmas wish list for Halliburton,” Leahy said in a press release. “I am sure there are federal contracting firms high-fiving at the prospect of all of the spending demanded by Senate Republicans in this amendment. The litany of expensive services, technology, and hardware mandated by this package is combined with an inexplicable waiver of many normal contracting rules.”
Leahy is not the only one to see the expanded border buildup as ridiculous overkill and a colossal waste of money. Some wonder if how the Border Patrol will be able to train and supply an extra 18,000 agents—not to mention questioning what all those agents are going to be doing out in the desert. Others say it will make the border region look like a war zone.
Locally, Border Action Network Executive Director Juanita Molina called the legislation “a disproportionate response to the risk posed by economic migrants.”
“Not only does this affect our everyday freedoms, it creates an occupied state that undermines the public trust in law enforcement and governmental institutions,” Molina said in a prepared statement.
But Sen. Jeff Flake, who was one of the original Gang of Eight sponsors, celebrated the border surge.
“In addition to doubling the number of Border Patrol agents and doubling the miles of border protected by fencing, the Hoeven-Corker amendment adds a firm trigger by requiring strong enforcement elements to be completed before anyone adjusts from provisional to permanent status,” Flake said via press release. “I’m proud to support this amendment, and urge its passage.”
This article appears in Jun 20-26, 2013.
So John speak up to your fellow Senators and tell them the real truth that the border is not as bad as certain border Senators say it is. Sen. Flake is just that a FLAKE. He is worthless, good only to the Republicans and Lobbyist that want a YES man. Flake has sold out to the AZ voters. He will be defeated next election.
Ask McCain the details of the surge, which they do not elaborate on. Ask him, by what year, is the increase in border personnel required to be satisfied??? Also ask if The Secretary of Homeland Security has the power to adjust these numbers, waive requirements, and decide that the fence is not needed. If he got into more detail, which he won’t, the people would realize that all of this is more talk than future action. Read the bill.
Remember the pervasive joy, when the Berlin Wall came down?
The rubes in the U.S. Congress are doing their usual circle jerk of wasteful, ineffective legislating and are foisting yet another gift to corporate contractors on taxpayers.
The solutions to the border problems are an accelerated guest worker program that processes applications rapidly and legalization of drugs. A fence and doubling the number of officers are NOT wise alternatives.
I really do not think that John McCain is all that upset about the military/intelligence industrial surge at the border. He is helping to line the pockets of his friends, and his own personal pocketbook interest is in keeping Budweiser the king of highs.
And McCain is the biggest liar since Richard Nixon.
Dave has it about right. It’s a win-win for McCain and his rich buddies.
There are loopholes you can drive a truck through in the enforcement provisions with the DHS secretary (Napolitano) the ultimate decision maker who can effectively decide to do zero enforcement, kind of like they are doing now in violation of the law.
Politicians keep the focus on the chimera of “border security” while ignoring more meaningful enforcement.
It’ll keep the gravy train rolling with plenty of low wage workers, a few more Hispanic votes, and that uppity American middle class kept down.
And for this amount of additional spending, we probably could, instead, fund health care for everyone in the nation. But that would not fill the deep pockets that will be filled from this spending and would take control of health care out of the hands of insurance companies who make money by NOT providing care. Hmmm.
What a pair, McCain and Palin. Every time he opens his mouth to speak we discover again what the U.S. Navy department knew when they didn’t offer him a promotion to flag rank. Palin will perform on cue to turn a buck. Amazing how rich you can get when you babble what the rubes want to hear.
Every time I think about how disappointed I am in Obama, I only have to remember McCain to know how much worse it could be by now.