Obama courts GOP on immigration

The Hill
May 24, 2010
by Alexander Bolton

On Tuesday, President Barack Obama will ask Senate Republicans to set aside their objections to his broad immigration goals.

The lunchtime meeting with the GOP conference comes as Senate Democrats and Republicans gird for a battle over immigration during debate on a $58.8 billion emergency supplemental bill.

Republicans such as Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison (Texas) and Jim DeMint (S.C.) may offer amendments to crack down on illegal border crossings by completing a fencing project, or sending aerial drones or National Guard troops to the border.


“We understand there are a handful of amendments planned by Republicans on border security,” said one Democratic aide, who added that the measures would be hard for Democratic senators to vote against.


Tuesday’s meeting provides Obama with an opportunity to both engage with Republicans and ask them to work with him. Senate Republicans have told pro-immigration advocates for weeks that they would not support a comprehensive reform measure until Obama engaged them in a serious way.


“The president is coming up here to talk to Republicans about immigration and to get them on board with moving forward on comprehensive immigration reform,” said a senior Senate Democratic aide.


Even if Obama makes an impassioned call for comprehensive reform, Senate aides doubt it would persuade Republicans to pull back border-security amendments to the supplemental spending bill.


An amendment filed by DeMint would require the administration to complete 700 miles of special double-layer fencing.


An amendment by Hutchison would send unmanned aerial surveillance vehicles to the border.


Democratic leaders are less concerned about the substance of the amendments than about how they might weaken support for passing a comprehensive immigration reform bill.


Strategists worry if the Senate passes stringent border security measures as part of the supplemental, it would weaken the rationale for passing comprehensive reform.


The Democratic aide said Obama could make the case to Republicans that a broad reform bill would address their concerns over border security.


Some pro-immigration activists warn that passage of the border-security amendments by a Democratic-controlled Senate would also send the wrong message to Hispanic voters.


“There’s definitely concern about what kind of amendments may be offered considering the rhetoric surrounding border issues,” said a pro-immigration activist. “There’s a concern over how much people will buy into that rhetoric.”


Democratic Party strategists have long thought that jobs and the economy would be the two biggest issues of the midterm election.


But polling shows that immigration reform could make a difference in battleground states such as Nevada and Colorado.


A new Public Policy Polling (PPP) survey shows that embattled Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) has opened a three-point lead on his Republican challenger because of a shift in Hispanic voters.


The poll attributed the movement to a large shift of Hispanic voters to Bennet since passage of an Arizona law empowering law enforcement to conduct on-the-spot identity checks of suspected illegal immigrants.


“Hispanics in the Mountain West are leaning much more strongly toward the Democrats since the Arizona law was passed,” stated a PPP analysis of the survey.


A White House aide said Obama plans to discuss his agenda, of which energy and climate change legislation and immigration reform have been two of the highest priorities.


“The president expects to have an open exchange about his legislative priorities for the rest of the year,” said the aide.


Obama pursued a similar tactical strategy prior to final passage of sweeping healthcare reform legislation earlier this spring.


The president held a healthcare summit with Republican leaders at the White House in February to discuss their ideas for improving the nation’s healthcare laws.


Pro-immigration activists have been calling on Obama to become more engaged on the issue.


“The only way that we’re going to move forward is if the president leans into this in such a way that Republicans feel the heat,” said Frank Sharry, founder of America’s Voices, a group that supports comprehensive reform.

“The president has not demonstrated the same kind of commitment to this issue that he has shown on other issues,” Sharry said.


Angela Kelley, vice president of immigration policy at the Center for American Progress, said: “I have a hard time seeing this issue move forward without substantial White House leadership.”


Kelley said if Obama only mentions immigration briefly, like he did at the State of the Union address earlier this year, “there will be a lot of disappointed people.”


“If this is a meaty conversation and the president shows ownership of the issue, it could provide considerable momentum, which is needed very badly,” Kelley said.


A Democratic aide said that White House officials initially told Democratic leaders that immigration reform would be the purpose of Tuesday’s meeting. They have since retrenched that expectation.


“The administration is now suggesting it will be one of several topics,” said the aide.


Proponents of comprehensive immigration reform say they hope that Obama will make a concerted push for broad reform at Tuesday’s meeting.


A senior GOP aide said the White House has not identified immigration reform as its No.1 priority for discussion Tuesday.


“It will be a wide-ranging discussion,” said the GOP aide. “The president can talk about anything he wants — it’s supposed to be on a wide range of topics.


“They said it would focus on a number of issues,” said the aide.

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/99635-immigration-has-president-courting-gop

Border mayors tell Congress fence won't work

San Antonio Express-News
September 9, 2009
by Gary Martin

WASHINGTON — A group of elected officials from Texas cities and counties along the U.S.-Mexico border urged Congress on Wednesday to strip a provision requiring the building of more border fencing from an annual spending bill.

The Texas Border Coalition wants a House-Senate conference committee to remove language from the spending bill for the Department of Homeland Security that would require the government to replace vehicle barriers and a high-technology “virtual fence” with pedestrian fencing.

Eagle Pass Mayor Chad Foster, the coalition's chairman, said the current fence, at a cost of $3.5 billion, has only forced narcotics traffickers and smugglers of undocumented immigrants to develop counterstrategies to move contraband and people into the United States.

With the recent building of some pedestrian fence, Foster said narco-traffickers and smugglers are now shifting their focus to busy land ports.

“If Congress perceives the purpose of the border fence is to seal the border from illegal activity, then the program is and will continue to be a failure,” Foster said.

The pedestrian fence provision was added as an amendment to the spending bill on a 54-44 vote in the Senate.

Republican Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn of Texas, and Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer of California voted in favor of the amendment.

New Mexico Sens. Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall, both Democrats, voted against the measure sponsored by Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C. Arizona Sens. Jon Kyl and John McCain, both Republicans, voted for it.

The House did not include the measure in its version of the spending bill, which is now before a House-Senate conference committee to iron out differences in the two pieces of legislation.
DeMint vowed to work to keep the provision in the final bill.

But House Democrats from the four Southwest border states are lobbying leaders to strip the provision from the bill and use the funds to better equip overcrowded and understaffed ports of entry.

Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, called the DeMint amendment “a waste of taxpayer's money.”

Congress authorized 700 miles of fence along the U.S.-Mexico border in the Secure Fence Initiative of 2006. Homeland Security has 370 miles of fence under contract, with the remainder to be secured by vehicle barriers, as well as technology and sensors.

Some portions of uncompleted fence remain under court challenge.

The DeMint provision would require that pedestrian fence account for all 700 miles of barriers authorized by Congress in 2006, and be completed by Dec. 31, 2010.
The Texas Border Coalition, made up of mayors, county judges and eco
nomic development officials, argue that the fence funds would be better spent on improvements to border ports to better inspect cargo and facilitate legal trade.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/58155687.html

Senate backs 700 miles of real fencing on border

Associated Press
July 8, 2009
by Andrew Taylor

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate voted Wednesday to require actual fencing along 700 miles of the border with Mexico rather than vehicle barriers and high-tech equipment.

The plan by Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., won approval by a 54-44 vote as the Senate began a second day of debate on a $42.9 billion measure to fund the Department of Homeland Security for the budget year beginning Oct. 1.

DeMint said the U.S.-Mexico border "has become a battleground" as drug and weapons traffickers, along with illegal immigrants, move too freely. He said the department is spending too much on "virtual" fencing such as motion detectors. Those barriers, he said, don't work as well as a real fence designed to block people crossing the border on foot.

Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, countered that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency was the best judge of the preferred fencing for various parts of the border. He said some stretches of physical fencing can cost up to $5 million per mile.

Separately, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., pushed through a plan to extend permanently the E-Verify program, which uses the Social Security database to check whether workers are illegal immigrants. His plan also would require companies doing business with the federal government to use the system.

The two developments demonstrated the extent to which spending bills can serve as vehicles for policy debates.

On Tuesday night, for example, the House Appropriations Committee approved an amendment that effectively would force General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC to restore franchise agreements with dealers as a condition of partial government ownership. That development came as the committee approved a spending bill to fund the Treasury Department, White House operations and other programs.

"It would force them to honor their franchise agreements and not use the excuse of bankruptcy to do what they couldn't have done under state franchise law," said Rep. Steve LaTourette, R-Ohio. "There are horror stories all over the country."

LaTourette's amendment is vulnerable to a procedural challenge in the full House next week. But the committee chairman, Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., said he would fight to save the amendment.

Other budget work kept Congress busy Wednesday.

A Senate panel approved a $34.3 billion measure for the Energy Department and Army Corps of Engineers' water projects. A second was set to OK a $24.4 billion proposal for the Treasury Department, the White House and the federal contribution to the District of Columbia.

Later, the House planned to consider a measure covering farm and nutrition programs.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gBPaHA8wyvhZsKWPW8Uxp30QpfqgD99ADH200

(Here is the roll call for the amendment sponsored by Senator DeMint, best known for renaming French Fries "Freedom Fries")

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&session=1&vote=00220

YEAs ---54
Alexander (R-TN)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Baucus (D-MT)
Bayh (D-IN)
Bennett (R-UT)
Bond (R-MO)
Boxer (D-CA)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Conrad (D-ND)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Enzi (R-WY)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johanns (R-NE)
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lincoln (D-AR)
McCain (R-AZ)
McCaskill (D-MO)
McConnell (R-KY)
Merkley (D-OR)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
Pryor (D-AR)
Risch (R-ID)
Roberts (R-KS)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Schumer (D-NY)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Snowe (R-ME)
Specter (D-PA)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Tester (D-MT)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)
Webb (D-VA)
Wicker (R-MS)
Wyden (D-OR)

NAYs ---44
Akaka (D-HI)
Begich (D-AK)
Bennet (D-CO)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Brown (D-OH)
Burris (D-IL)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Cardin (D-MD)
Carper (D-DE)
Casey (D-PA)
Cochran (R-MS)
Collins (R-ME)
Dodd (D-CT)
Durbin (D-IL)
Ensign (R-NV)
Feingold (D-WI)
Franken (D-MN)
Gillibrand (D-NY)
Hagan (D-NC)
Harkin (D-IA)
Inouye (D-HI)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kaufman (D-DE)
Kerry (D-MA)
Kohl (D-WI)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Lieberman (ID-CT)
Lugar (R-IN)
Martinez (R-FL)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Murray (D-WA)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Sanders (I-VT)
Shaheen (D-NH)
Udall (D-CO)
Udall (D-NM)
Voinovich (R-OH)
Warner (D-VA)
Whitehouse (D-RI)

Not Voting - 2
Byrd (D-WV)
Kennedy (D-MA)

Texans react to Obama ending new border fence construction

Houston Chronicle
May 8, 2009
Texas on the Potomac Blog

Here are comments by members of the Houston-area congressional delegation on President Obama's decision to end construction of the border fence beyond the 670 miles that have already been built or planned.

Rep. Gene Green, D-Houston:
"These fences have proven to be a small deterrent and are not very effective in preventing illegal crossings without a border patrol officer watching that fence. Scarce federal dollars have been spent on building this fence that would have been better spent on hiring more Border Patrol officers, and I am glad that President Obama's budget ends efforts to extend the controversial border fence."

Rep. Al Green, D-Houston:
"Effective immigration reform has to be comprehensive and holistic. Piecemeal solutions are neither."

Rep. John Culberson, R-Houston:
"I am very disappointed to see more proof that the new Administration will not truly secure our borders. No matter what this President does or does not do, I will keep working to expand the successful zero tolerance border security I helped implement in the Del Rio and Laredo sectors. I will not rest until our border is secure with zero tolerance for illegal crossings from Brownsville to San Diego.

Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands:
"We must use the right tools for the right job and we should not automatically exclude effective immigration enforcement tools such as a physical border fence and vehicle barriers. Continued enforcement is critical if we are to close the back door of illegal immigration so the front door of legal immigration can remain open."

Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin:
"I was just in El Paso where the Border Patrol showed me first hand how it secures the United States and saves lives. I'm disappointed by the administration but not surprised."

Here are comments by Texas' two senators:

Sen. John Cornyn, R-San Antonio, said the U.S. Border Patrol had expressed support for the barriers as a way to slow undocumented immigrants' dash across the border into nearby communities before they could be apprehended. Cornyn said he would consult with Border Patrol agents to get their take on the latest development.

"We need to be able to know who is coming in (to the United States," Cornyn said.

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Dallas, called "a secure and safe border . . . one of our nation's top priorities" without taking a position on additional fencing.

"To that end, we need to not only put more boots on the ground along our southern border, but we need to support our local law enforcement agencies in the region to ensure that they are no longer outgunned and outmanned. I will continue to work with the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security to ensure that the increased funding they've promised is being used as efficiently and as wisely as possible."

http://blogs.chron.com/txpotomac/2009/05/texas_lawmakers_react_to_obama_3.html