Thread: Immigration bill: John McCain says ‘border surge’ could be changed

Politico
By SEUNG MIN KIM | 7/30/13 2:03 PM EDT

McCain – a key Senate Gang of Eight negotiator – said while a pathway to citizenship for the nation’s undocumented immigrants is a “fundamental element” of the bill, the “rest of it could be adjusted.” He singled out the border security parts as an example.

He says the border-security provision may change in a potential House-Senate compromise. | AP Photo

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) signaled Tuesday that the dramatic boost in border-security in the Senate’s comprehensive immigration bill could be one of the provisions that may be changed in a potential House-Senate compromise.

During an immigration forum hosted by the AFL-CIO Tuesday, McCain – a key Senate Gang of Eight negotiator – said while a pathway to citizenship for the nation’s undocumented immigrants is a “fundamental element” of the bill, the “rest of it could be adjusted.” He singled out the border security parts as an example.

“We don’t need 20,000 additional border patrol agents,” McCain said Tuesday. “But what we do need is use of technology that has been developed where we can survey the border more effectively.”

The border-security provisions in the Gang of Eight bill, written by Republican Sens. Bob Corker of Tennessee and John Hoeven of North Dakota, would set aside more than $46 billion to double the number of border patrol agents along the southwestern U.S. boundary, add new surveillance technology and to complete the 700-mile border fence.

Corker and Hoeven drafted their amendment in the final days of the Senate immigration debate, and it was critical to luring several wavering Republican and Democratic senators on board with the overall bill.

“I voted for it so friends of mine would be comfortable that we are securing the border,” McCain said Tuesday. “But the real securing of the border is with technology, as opposed to individuals.”

Several Latino and immigration advocacy groups have expressed outrage at the Senate Gang of Eight bill and its border-security provisions since the overall legislation passed in June.

Last week, more than 30 Latino organizations wrote to Congress, calling on House lawmakers to oppose the Senate immigration bill partly because of what the groups called “border militarization” in the legislation.

Meanwhile, Republicans and Democrats alike in the House have been highly critical of the Corker-Hoeven proposal. A border-security measure in the House has gained bipartisan backing and could be among the first immigration bills voted on by the full House later this fall.

Both of the namesakes of the Corker-Hoeven plan indicated Tuesday that they were open to changes. In particular, Hoeven noted that the House border-security bill, written by Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas), was similar to a proposal he advanced during the negotiations that was ultimately scrapped in favor of the “border surge” approach.

”All along, we’ve said we’re at halftime, not at the finish line,” Hoeven said Tuesday. “There’s going to be more work to do and we look forward to working with the House on what they come up with.”

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/07/immigration-border-surge-john-mccain-94927.html

by Matthew Boyle 30 Jul 2013
breitbart.com



Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said Tuesday that if the House goes to conference to try to save the Senate “Gang of Eight” immigration bill, the “border surge” amendment from Sens. Bob Corker (R-TN) and John Hoeven (R-ND) will probably be eliminated.

“We don’t need 20,000 additional border patrol agents,” McCain claimed at an AFL-CIO immigration forum on Tuesday, according to Politico. “But what we do need is use of technology that has been developed where we can survey the border more effectively.”

The Corker-Hoeven amendment was introduced in the last minute of the Senate immigration fight, right before the Fourth of July. It was sold with a series of talking points that mostly turned out to be untrue and used to secure an additional group of GOP senate votes. It was rushed to the floor as a substitute 1,200-page new bill by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and passed before everything in it was fully understood.

The revised bill still kept the fundamental flaws the original bill had, as it did not require strengthening law enforcement--border security and interior immigration law enforcement--before granting amnesty. Instead, the bill tried to stifle border security concerns through promises of money, technology, and more law enforcement agents to be hired at a future date.

McCain admitted as much in his Tuesday remarks at the AFL-CIO event. “I voted for it so friends of mine would be comfortable that we are securing the border,” he said. “But the real securing of the border is with technology, as opposed to individuals.”

A GOP aide said McCain’s comments confirm what conservatives have suspected all along: “Everyone knew the agents would never be hired. But we suspected a little time would pass before they admitted as much to the world," the aide told Breitbart News.

"This just reveals what a sham this whole thing is. An excuse to pass amnesty and give CEO’s some unskilled labor from overseas," the source claimed. "This just pulls back the curtain a little more.”

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Governm...be-comfortable