Republicans Not Convinced by Border Security Bill
Sen. Chuck Schumer said this morning he hopes the $600 million border security bill will convince Republicans to come to the table to work on comprehensive immigration reform. Observers are skeptical of this strategy, and Republicans don’t seem convinced either — most still argue more needs to be done to secure the border.
Arizona Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl, who earlier this week accused House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) of trying to steal credit for the border security bill, said in a statement the bill is “just a start” to implementing their 10-point security plan:
“„The bill that passed today does not include nearly enough funding for the other priorities we have been fighting for, including, for example, funding to fully implement Operation Streamline in the Tucson Border Patrol Sector, funding to dramatically increase the number of Customs inspectors at ports of entry in both the Tucson and Yuma areas, and funding to double the capacity of the Law Enforcement Support Center (LESC), which provides information about immigration status to federal, state, and local law enforcement officials. Unfortunately, Democrats have repeatedly refused our attempts to boost border security for these and other programs.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) also called for further measures before he would trust the Obama administration’s commitment to border security: “Only time will tell if passage of this legislation means the administration is finally getting serious about controlling our borders instead of rewarding illegality.”
