News

Rubio: “What we’ve always worked on is a starting point. We worked with eight people, four Republicans and four Democrats, crafted what I think is an excellent starting point. Now we’re asking our colleagues for suggestions about how to improve it.” (CBS “This Morning,” 5/9/13)

CONCERN WITH ORIGINAL BILL: While the immigration bill has been described as “the toughest immigration enforcement provisions ever seriously considered in Congress,” senators were concerned that the original legislation only secured the high-risk sectors, and not the entire border.

• Senator Chuck Grassley: “The bill before us weakens current law by only requiring the southern border to be ‘90 percent effectively secured’ in some sectors – only the so-called high risk sectors. What about the other six sectors?” (Statement by Senator Chuck Grassley, 4/22/13)

HOW THE AMENDMENT STRENGTHENS THE BILL: Senators were able to identify ways to make the border-enforcement more specific and effective. The Grassley 1 amendment improved the border security enforcements and triggers already in the bill. The Grassley Amendment strengthens the border security triggers in the bill by making the triggers dependent on effective control of the entire border, not simply high risk sectors.

All of the amendments submitted to the Committee on the Judiciary are available online for review here.