The Hoeven-Corker border security amendment to the Senate immigration bill cleared a procedural hurdle when the Senate voted 67 to 27 on Monday night to invoke cloture on the amendment. This sets up the amendment for a pass/fail vote later in the week.
Senator Bob Corker, R-Tenn., who introduced the amendment with Sen.
John Hoeven, R-N.D., made the following statement.
“This vote provides strong bipartisan support for an amendment that unquestionably strengthens border security and moves us toward solving the immigration problem that we have struggled with for decades," said Corker. "There are certainly provisions in the underlying bill that can be improved, but it is my hope that tonight's overwhelming vote will lead to the passage of a strong bipartisan bill out of the Senate later this week."
He said the amendment "mandates an unprecedented surge of security at the southern border, implements tough interior enforcement to curb de facto amnesty, and helps prevent abuse of federal benefits."
“The Hoeven-Corker amendment takes big and important steps on the immigration issue that matters most: border security,” Senator Lamar Alexander said. “It would double the number of agents on the southwest border, construct 700 miles of new or upgraded fencing and spend $3.2 billion on new security technology that was perfected in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
The Hoeven-Corker amendment would add 20,000 border patrol agents, enough to allow putting one agent every 1,000 feet along the U.S. southwest border. The border patrol agents, fencing and security technology plan would have to be in place before anyone under the immigration legislation’s “Registered Provisional Immigrant” program would be allowed to apply for legal permanent residency, otherwise known as a green card.
Senate Alexander continued, “It is the constitutional responsibility of the president and Congress to write the rules for a legal immigration system and to enforce them. As this legislation reaches its final form, I will be examining it closely to determine whether it creates an effective immigration system that respects the rule of law. My goals will remain securing our border, ending de facto amnesty and creating a legal immigration system.”