McCaskill is up for re-election in 2012.

McCaskill sides with GOP on border security
Senator sided with GOP on bills that would have added more troops.
Malia Rulon • Gannett Washington Bureau • August 29, 2010

Washington -- Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill doesn't represent a border state, but the Democrat has become one of the biggest supporters of immigration reform in the Senate.

In the past year, McCaskill has broken with her party to vote in favor of several Republican-backed bills that would have strengthened border security. And this month, a bill she co-sponsored to provide $600 million for border security efforts was approved by Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama.

"It is an issue in Missouri," McCaskill said in an interview with the News-Leader. "We've had a number of illegal-immigrant problems. While we're certainly not a border state, it doesn't mean that it's not something that needs to be addressed."

As if to underscore her point, federal officials announced Friday that they had arrested 370 illegal immigrants in a three-day bust in 10 Midwest states, including Missouri.

And sheriffs from across the state approved a resolution this week that affirms their support for officers in states along the Mexican border who are trying to enforce immigration laws.

The resolution gives support to the Arizona law making it a state crime to be in the country illegally and requiring that an officer engaged in a lawful stop, detention or arrest must ask about a person's legal status when reasonable suspicion exists that the person is in the U.S. illegally.

It also made it a state crime to stop a vehicle in the road to hire a day laborer if it impedes traffic as well as to transport, harbor, conceal or shield an illegal immigrant while committing a separate criminal offense.

Under a Missouri law in place since 2008, law enforcement officers must verify the immigration status of anyone who is arrested.

McCaskill said the Arizona law, which has been suspended by a federal judge, provided the incentive she and other lawmakers needed to get the $600 million border security bill passed this year.

"This is where we have to give a nod to the people of Arizona, because them getting frustrated and doing what they did captured the nation's attention and gave us the political push we needed to get this across the finish line," she said.

Earlier this year, McCaskill voted in favor of three GOP-sponsored amendments that would have provided border security. All failed on party-line votes.

One from Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., would have provided National Guard support to secure the southern U.S. border. Another would have given $200 million to the Justice Department to address illegal crossings, and a third would have made appropriations to improve border security.

Missouri Sen. Kit Bond, a Republican, also voted in favor of these bills.

"I have broken with my party on this issue in almost every instance where we've have taken a vote on this issue," McCaskill said. "I'm a former prosecutor, so I am a big believer in enforcing the laws that we have on the books."

McCaskill said she believes that illegal immigration needs to be dealt with by both adding resources at the border and going after employers who hire illegal workers.

Her bill addresses the first problem. But more must be done to crack down on employers, she said.

"There has been a wink-wink, nod-nod, especially when it comes to enforcing the laws against employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants," she said. "I've watched in frustration as a big (deal) was made about rounding up illegal immigrants, but nothing was done against the employers."

Under McCaskill's bill, the $600 million would pay for additional border patrol and customs agents and the purchase of unmanned drone aircraft to increase border surveillance. The bill is completely paid for by raising fees on visas sought by foreign companies operating in the U.S. that import foreign workers instead of hiring Americans.
http://www.news-leader.com/article/2010 ... r-security