President. The Isakson amendment is designed to tear apart the interwoven fabric of a bill that many of us have worked so hard in a bipartisan manner to pass in the Senate. The Isakson amendment asserts that there can be no guest worker program and no legalization path for undocumented immigrants currently in the United States until security at the borders is guaranteed. Sounds good. until you realize that comprehensive immigration reform consists of several interrelated steps. each depending on the rest in order to maximize the prospects of the overall plan to get the job done. This amendment is a prescription for failure. by ripping a comprehensive plan apart. That is why this amendment has been described as a "poison pill" that would undermine the bipartisan bill before the Senate. The Senate recently passed the Defense supplemental appropriations bill. a bill that included nearly $2 billion for border security. It seems that what Senator ISAKSON wants the Senate to do is to wait until all of those funds are expended. and then assess our security. Many of us have been fighting for years to improve border security by targeting more resources for technology on the borders and by adding additional Border Patrol agents. The Bush administration repeatedly failed to fulfill Congresss directives in recent years. but I was pleased to hear the President say last night that he now supports increasing the number of Border Patrol agents by 6.000. He made a statement last night that was stronger and displayed a stronger commitment than we have heard from him previously. and I hope he plans to follow through on his words. The President also spoke about the need to simultaneously implement guest worker programs and a path to earned citizenship for the undocumented. This is similar to the comprehensive approach that those of us who supported the Judiciary Committee bill. and then the HagelMartinez compromise. still believe is necessary to reform our broken system and to secure our borders. Do Senator ISAKSON and the supporters of his amendment believe that the President is taking the Nation in the wrong direction?
Keywords matched
undocumented border security immigration immigrants Border Patrol