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Isakson shifts immigration stance
New bill puts priority on border lockdown
Bob Kemper - Staff
Friday, March 10, 2006

Washington --- Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) put aside plans Thursday to seek sweeping changes in U.S. immigration laws, including accommodating 11 million illegal immigrants already in the country, and instead submitted legislation focused almost exclusively on locking down the U.S.-Mexico border.

His turnabout comes as the Senate Judiciary Committee, considering several competing proposals, is drafting a wide-ranging immigration reform bill that would include a temporary-worker program and a way for illegal immigrants to gain legal status.

In dropping such provisions from the bill he introduced, Isakson said they were distractions from the single most important facet of immigration control: border security.

"This legislation takes the steps necessary to make sure our border is secure," Isakson said. "Once that is done the other problems are manageable."

Isakson switched to a more hard-line approach after recent travel along the Mexico border, where he examined existing security measures such as barriers and drone surveillance aircraft and inspected tunnels and other passages used to enter the United States illegally.

His action also comes a day after the Georgia Senate passed a bill that seeks to ensure illegal immigrants do not receive taxpayer-provided benefits to which they are not entitled, and which would prevent employers from claiming wages for illegal immigrants as a tax deduction. The bill could be considered in the state House next week.

Isakson's bill calls for spending nearly $1.5 billion to add 1,500 border agents and to buy 24 unmanned aircraft that would monitor the 2,000-mile border from 15,000 feet.

Isakson also wants to repeal a law requiring farmers to pay legal immigrants more than illegal aliens. Legal immigrants must be paid according to a federal rate, which is more than $8 a hour, or about $3 above the federal minimum wage. That encourages farmers to hire illegal immigrants, Isakson said.

In the Judiciary Committee on Thursday, senators agreed on a provision that would call for hiring more Border Patrol agents, but how many was uncertain.

The committee also accepted an amendment to require detention and expedited deportation of apprehended non-Mexican immigrants and to study the construction of border barriers.

The House in December approved a bill that calls for hiring 1,000 agents this year and fencing off large stretches of the border, but makes no provision for guest workers. Senators generally argue that the solutions to such a complex problem must go beyond border security and address issues such as what to do about illegal immigrants already in the country, whether to make the existing legal immigration system less cumbersome and how to ensure that U.S. companies have access to cheap immigrant labor.

While Isakson's shift puts him more in line with the House approach, he doesn't support the bill it approved. Walls and fences work in densely populated areas, but are ineffective on open terrain, he said.

"You build a 20-foot wall, they will build a 21-foot ladder," he said.

He also said that while Georgia and other states are taking action of their own, "the problem is in Washington, D.C."

"All the state legislation is going to be of little consequence if the federal government does not secure the border," he said.

The Associated Press contributed information about the Senate Judiciary Committee's action.