The United States Senate made a big step toward passing comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) on Monday, June 24th by passing a compromise amendment to the bill currently under discussion. The amendment, put forward by Senator Corker (R-TN) would greatly increase the money and manpower spent on ensuring the southern border of the United States remains secure. The need for increased border security -which has long been a spot of contention for Republicans who view the current CIR bill as “amnesty”- brought wide support from both Republicans and Democrats in the Senate, passing by a vote of 67-27.

The amendment would add 20,000 more border patrol agents (bringing the total to 40,000) at a cost of over $30 billion, put up 350 miles of fencing along the border, and require funding for 12 additional drones to patrol the area. The amendment would also expand the e-verify legal status check system, something Republicans have been demanding. While Democrats were not pushing for more security in the CIR bill, the party’s Senators viewed supporting the Corker amendment as a way to ensure that enough Republicans would feel comfortable backing the bill and that it would not die in the Senate.

All 27 votes against the amendment came from Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). There is still some Republican fear that even with the increased spending of the amendment the overall CIR bill does not have enough specific measurements of border security. Despite this fact, the ability for the Corker amendment to receive the full support of Democrats and substantial backing from Republicans points to the likelihood that the overall CIR bill will pass the Senate with large support, possibly by the end of this week.

This is good news for proponents of immigration reform, especially following a week in which previous supporters of CIR such as Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) expressed doubt that the bill could even pass the Senate, let alone be eventually signed into law. Senate supporters of the CIR bill have been hopeful of obtaining 70 votes in support of immigration reform, a number they feel confident will put added pressure on the House of Representatives to take up the Senate bill, something the House has stated it will not do. Whether a 70 vote threshold will be met is yet to be seen, but the passing of the Corker amendment with 67 votes is a good sign for CIR supporters.

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Founded in 1996, Zhang & Associates, P.C. offers legal services to clients nationwide in all aspects of U.S immigration law. We have successfully handled thousands of immigration cases.

At Zhang & Associates, P.C., our attorneys and supporting professionals are committed to providing high-quality immigration and non-immigration visa services. We specialize in NIW, EB-1, PERM, and I-485 cases. In the past seventeen years, we have successfully helped thousands of clients get green cards. If you plan to apply for a green card, please send your CV to Attorney Jerry Zhang (info@hooyou.com) for a free evaluation.

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(06/25/2013)