The Senate made progress on strengthening their border bill today, but conservative senators are still holding their breath.
Just a month ago, Minority Leader Sen. Harry Reid (Nev.) called the amendment to bar criminals from attaining citizenship a “poison pill to kill the bill.” Reid, along with the entire Senate, voted in favor of doing so today.
Sen. Jon Kyl (R.-Ariz.), who introduced the amendment said, “The amendment is exactly the same as it was before to prohibit serious criminals and absconders from getting the benefits of this legislation precluding citizenship. As time went on, I think it become fairly evident to people that regardless of where you were on other aspect of the bill allowing convicted felons to become U.S. citizens under this bill was not a good idea and as a result form what was originally identified as a contentious effort to defeat the legislation and a poison pill turned out to be something that all of the members of the Senate could support.”
Sen. Jeff Sessions’(R.-Ala.) amendment to construct fencing in urban areas where illegal aliens were known to gather in crowds and storm the border through traffic was passed 83-16, but not without a tirade from Sen. Teddy Kennedy (D.-Mass.) who opposed the measure. During debate on the Senate floor, he bellowed it would restrict access on “400 miles! Almost a quarter of the southern border!” He then mocked Republicans who he believed were trying to make him look bad. He said, “You vote against that! Put an 1800 mile fence with triple wire to show how tough we are.” Speaking loudly so that tourists could hear him in the upper section of the chamber he said, “This is a down payment for fencing the whole border. Fencing with guards along [it].” He scoffed, “There’s much concern about the northern border as the southern, so let’s put it [fencing] up there.”
The bill doesn’t have full support senate conservatives yet. Kyl said “It is doubtful some of the key amendments will be adopted.” Kyl’s primary concerns were that the worker program not allow workers to become permanent, temporary visas be created and that the employee verification system be effective. He placed special emphasis on the latter. He said, “If there is any critical aspect of this bill that’s it because we all rely upon the fact that ultimately you’re not going to be able to get a job in this country unless you are legal.”
Sen. John Cornyn said “The bill is getting better, but we have strong opinions on what the temporary worker program ought to look like, that it ought to be one that reinstates this concept of circular migration. That they work for a time and then they go home and that in bad economic times foreign workers should not have an unfair advantage in competing with American workers for those jobs.”
One Republican aide expressed happiness with the progress. He said, “We’re going to get this thing out of here and go to conference and make it real.”
