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| Jan. 31, 2013: Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas questions former Sen.
Chuck Hagel (not shown) at a confirmation hearing in Washington. (AP) |
The immigration legislation moving quickly toward a full Senate vote
triggered a stand-off Thursday between competing wings of the Republican
Party, as conservative members accused their colleagues of greasing the
wheels for passage with a "fig leaf" that only claims to address border
security.
The debate flared as Senate leaders scramble to hold a vote before
the July 4 recess. The legislation gained momentum with lawmakers
offering a bipartisan compromise to spend billions on border security
while still allowing millions of illegal immigrants to obtain legal
status.
Part of the compromise effort was spearheaded Thursday by GOP Sens.
John Hoeven of North Dakota and Bob Corker of Tennessee, who pitched an
amendment to beef up security. It would double Border Patrol agents on
the border, build 700 new miles of fencing and spend billions to deploy
additional high-tech tools including drones, radar and seismic
monitoring.
"If this amendment passes ... I don't know how anybody could argue
that the reason they're not supporting this legislation is because we
haven't addressed securing the border," Corker said. "We have addressed
that. We've addressed that in spades in this legislation."
But several conservative lawmakers sharply disputed the claim.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and others held a press conference shortly
before the Corker-Hoeven announcement blasting their proposal.
The senators claimed the Senate was poised to repeat the mistakes of
the 1986 immigration overhaul, by putting the promise of border security
after other provisions, resulting in a flood of new immigrants.
"What I think the American people want is real border security, not
an empty fig leaf. And they want border security first," Cruz said. "If
the legalization happened first, the border security never will."
Further, he accused Democrats of seeking a "political victory" by
passing a bill through the Senate that the House cannot support.
Some Senate Republicans had gotten behind a proposal that could have
addressed those concerns. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, offered an
amendment to delay legalization until any border security improvements
were proven effective -- but it was sidetracked on a vote of 54-43.
Sens. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.; David Vitter, R-La.; Chuck Grassley,
R-Iowa; and Mike Lee, R-Utah, joined Cruz on the Hill to criticize the
latest effort.
But Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who is considered vital to any
immigration deal, publicly endorsed the Corker-Hoeven amendment on
Thursday.
"The choice is before us to try to fix this or leave it the way it
is. And what we have today is a disaster of epic proportions. We need to
fix this, and this is our chance to fix it," he said.
The developments could clear the way for a strong bipartisan vote
within a few days to pass the measure that sits atop President Obama's
second-term domestic agenda.
The developments came as Democrats who met with House Speaker John
Boehner on Wednesday quoted him as saying he expected the House to pass
its own version of an immigration bill this summer and Congress to have a
final compromise by year's end.
Boehner, R-Ohio, already has said the legislation that goes to the
House in the next month or two will not include a pathway to citizenship
for immigrants in the United States illegally.
Earlier this week, the Congressional Budget Office jolted lawmakers
with an estimate saying that as drafted, the legislation would fail to
prevent a steady increase in the future in the number of residents
living in the United States illegally.
The estimate appeared to give added credibility to Republicans who
have been pressing Democrats to toughen the border security provisions
already written into the bill.
"Our whole effort has been to build a bipartisan group that will
support the bill," said Hoeven, who's helped develop the deal along with
Corker. "That's what this is all about, and it's focused on border
security."
It was unclear which other portions of the Senate legislation might
be changed. There is pressure from some Republicans to make sure no
federal benefits go to immigrants who are in the country illegally, at
least until they become citizens.
The underlying legislation already envisions more border agents,
additional fencing along the U.S-Mexico border, surveillance drones, a
requirement for employers to verify the legal status of potential
workers and a biometric system to track foreigners who enter and leave
the United States at air and seaports and by land.
Some Republicans have been unwilling to support a bill that grants
legal status to immigrants in the country illegally until the government
certifies that the border security steps have achieved 90 percent
effectiveness in stopping would-be border crossers.
On the other hand, Democrats have opposed Republican proposals to
make legalization contingent on success in closing the border to illegal
crossings. Under the legislation as drafted, legalization could begin
as soon as a security plan was drafted, but a 10-year wait would be
required for a green card.
Sources :
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/06/21/republicans-battle-over-immigration-security-as-bill-cruises-toward-senate-vote/?test=latestnews
