If I am not mistaken. it is the Senator from Alabama who moved forward to have the fence paid for. That is good. Now we have an amendment to build 700 miles of extremely expensive fencingsome estimate it will cost as much as $7 billionwith no plan to fix our broken immigration system. The majority has made very clear they have no interest in negotiating with the Senate to enact legislation. What we are doing today is about November 7th. In addition. we now hear the majority may try to include the entire House enforcement package in the Homeland Security appropriations conference report. This is the package that the House Republicans put together after their unprecedented summer of sham hearings about the Senates comprehensive immigration reform bill. Among the measures included in the package is a provision making the 12 million undocumented immigrants subject to arrest and detention. This provision has long been opposed by State and local law enforcement authorities who already are stretched thin and do not want to jeopardize the policing efforts in immigrant communities. This is clearly an effort to sneak the controversial criminalization provisions of the House enforcementonly bill through the back door. I strongly oppose this illegitimate maneuver. If the Republicans want to move forward on these provisions. they should have agreed to a conference on immigration bills that each Chamber passed. Enforcement measures alone will not secure our border. It is crucial we get control of our border.
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undocumented immigrant immigrants immigration