Key to reviving immigration-reform bill: tight border

President Bush pledges more agents, fencing, and cameras to save the Senate bill – in need of 15 votes to survive.

from the June 25, 2007 edition

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"It's our intention to get very specific about potential problems," says Sen. Jon Kyl (R) of Arizona, the lead GOP negotiator on the bill.

"The 24-hour requirement for probationary status is a bogus argument, because the government has never waived its right to prosecute criminal offenses," he said in a briefing with reporters Friday. But since it's become such a flash point in the media, "it's been eliminated," he said.

Also, those overstaying their visas will be "detained, deported, and permanently barred from the country," he said. "There has been such an outcry in the country to see that the laws are enforced that the Senate has to show we are serious about it," he added.

But GOP critics say they can't assess whether the proposals will be effective without seeing more detail on the amendments. "I cannot accept a one or two sentence summary of a legislative provision that promises enforcement. We must see the full language to determine if it will actually work," said Sen. Jeff Sessions (R) of Alabama, in an e-mail.

"We have seen that legislative provisions, if not funded or carried out, are worthless," he added, citing a 1996 law mandating that a new entry and exit border system be fully up and running by 2005. "It is not close to a reality today. The history of immigration law is that political gestures towards enforcement are passed with great fanfare but never fully funded to actually work."

Some outside groups opposing features of the proposed law welcomed moves to step up border security. "Still, it's astounding that it took a month of political convulsions to get such an obvious, common-sense amendment put forward," says Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies.

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