Thread: Jeff Sessions to Schumer: "We are not there yet"

Senator begins groundwork for sweeping immigration bill
By Chris Strohm CongressDaily
May 20, 2009

Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee Chairman Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., launched an aggressive effort Wednesday to press for passage this year of comprehensive immigration legislation, saying conditions are ripe for congressional action.

Schumer announced an agenda of hearings for the coming months and said he is "cautiously optimistic that we can pass strong, fair, practical and effective immigration reform this year." The series of hearings are being called "the road to immigration reform in 2009: clearing the hurdles," he said.

Not so fast, countered Senate Judiciary ranking member Jeff Sessions, R-Ala. As the newly minted top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, Sessions will be a key player in crafting any immigration reform bill. Perhaps foreshadowing the debate likely to play out on the panel over an immigration measure, Sessions said, "We are not there yet."

Immigration reform advocates want to see Congress pass legislation overhauling the nation's immigration laws and giving an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States a legal path to stay in the country. Past efforts to pass a comprehensive bill have failed and opponents of reform have stipulated that beefed-up border security is needed before legislation can succeed.

Schumer argued Wednesday that the demands have been met, including the expansion of a Border Patrol force that has 20,000 agents. He said "the American people need to know" that U.S. borders are "considerably more secure" than in previous years. And he fired questions at witnesses from the Homeland Security Department to make his case. Schumer asked officials from the Border Patrol, Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement if border security efforts since 2005 have been successful in "significantly lowering" illegal immigration and making the borders "exponentially more secure." All three witnesses answered yes.

"For years now, opponents of immigration reform have continually promised that they will engage in a conversation about immigration reform once Congress showed it was serious about securing the border," Schumer said. "Our witnesses will confirm today that showing has clearly been made." He also cited department statistics that the number of people caught illegally entering the country has decreased by 27 percent compared to last year.

But critics contend that the statistic does not take into account those who successfully evaded border agents and made it into the country. Sessions said he has questions about the Obama administration's commitment to enforcing the nation's immigration laws. "We are making some good progress. The question is will we continue it," he said. "I see some good things happening. I see some things that are troubling." He expressed concern that the administration does not appear to be deporting undocumented workers at the same rate that the Bush administration did.

On a related front, a report released Wednesday by the nonpartisan Police Foundation criticized efforts to have local law enforcement agencies enforce federal immigration laws. The group said the report "finds that immigration enforcement by local police undermines their core public safety mission, diverts scarce resources, increases their exposure to liability and litigation, and exacerbates fear in communities already distrustful of police."

http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?a ... todaysnews

They have been slackin off for decades now. A Few weeks of enforcement and a handful of promises doesnt convince me of anything.

Show us 2 decades of enforcement and Ill think about reform.

Schumer argued Wednesday that the demands have been met, including the expansion of a Border Patrol force that has 20,000 agents. He said "the American people need to know" that U.S. borders are "considerably more secure" than in previous years.

OH PLEASE, if the borders were secure why are there STILL thousands pouring thru every day? If they were secure, why are there Islamist training camps INSIDE the US? This is the biggest load of horse sh*t I've seen in a while.

Adding a few Border Guards BUT tying their hands DOES NOT secure the border!

Secure the borders for five years, give the American Citizens interior enforcement everywhere (workplace first), and eliminate anchor babies in the 14th Amendment.

This is comprehensive reform above for 80% of American Citizens.

Let Congress hear our message daily.

No to Sharia Law!

Sessions said, "We are not there yet."

That is the truth! Thank you Senator Sessions.

Schumer needs to take a trip to the border states, talk to the locals, talk to the border patrol agents, not just to those he choses to talk to to advance his agenda.

Added to Homepage:
http://www.alipac.us/article-4231--0-0.html

Related:

The Washington Times
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Schumer pushes immigration reform
Stephen Dinan

With the nation's top immigration enforcement officers saying they will finish the border fence and continue President George W. Bush's immigration enforcement efforts, the top Democratic senator on immigration said Wednesday that the nation's borders are secure enough to begin working on a legalization bill for current illegal immigrants.

Sen. Charles E. Schumer, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee's immigration subcommittee, said that given progress over the past four years - from barriers to more agents to better technology - lawmakers have proved to the nation that they are serious about security. Now, he said, voters should be ready to accept a law that legalizes illegal immigrants and rewrites immigration rules.

"We can pass strong, fair, practical and effective immigration reform this year," the New York Democrat said.

Efforts to pass a broad legalization bill faltered in 2006 and 2007 as voters flooded Congress with calls. Lawmakers concluded that voters didn't believe the bills would actually control the border.

At a hearing before his subcommittee Wednesday, Mr. Schumer pointed to falling apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico border - down 27 percent compared with last year - as evidence the borders are more secure. He said that should convince voters who objected in 2006 and 2007 to Senate legalization bills that the government has done its job.

Mr. Schumer did not credit Mr. Bush for the progress, instead praising Congress for passing the Secure Fence Act and other laws to strengthen border security - even though Mr. Schumer initally opposed the Secure Fence Act in 2006. He voted first to block the bill through a filibuster, but that effort failed and he voted for the measure on final passage a day later.

But Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, said with 700,000 people still being arrested annually, "that is not a lawful border." He also said his fights to get a vote on fencing and other security measures belies Mr. Schumer's claim that voters can now trust that Congress understands the security issue.

"I don't think the politicians have in any way distinguished themselves, ourselves, in this matter," he said.

He said progress has been made in security, but rather than showing that the job is done, it underscores the prospects for success if the government takes other steps on enforcement.

"We are not there yet," he said.

The Obama administration has changed the focus of interior enforcement from detaining illegal workers to the employers who hire them. On border security, the administration remains committed to expanding the strategies of Mr. Bush. That includes finishing his plans for fencing and vehicle barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border, said Border Patrol Chief David V. Aguilar.

"Everybody is in agreement; we will continue to build the fence," he said.

During the campaign, President Obama said he wanted to have a comprehensive immigration bill done in his first year but he has since backed off that and said his schedule is too full. Instead, he wants to begin talks that will lead to a bill later.

Adding to that momentum, Mr. Obama will host a small group of congressional Democrats and Republicans at the White House in June to talk about immigration and where work needs to be done, according to an administration official familiar with the issue who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

"The meeting is intended to launch a policy conversation, with the hope of beginning the debate in earnest later this year," the official said.

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/ma ... on-effort/