Senator Chuck Grassley made the following comment after the first day of consideration of the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Grassley is the Ranking Member of the committee.
“Not only did we dispense with a number of amendments during today’s mark-up, but we had good debate that helped educate not only members of Congress, but also the American people.
“A number of amendments were adopted which helped make a slightly better bill. But without approval of provisions like my amendment to ensure the border is secure before undocumented immigrants are legalized, it’s clear, and the authors have admitted to it, that it’s legalization first and enforcement later. I was disappointed that alliances seem to have been made to ensure that nothing passed that would make substantial changes and improvements to the bill. Many of those same people gave high praise to the amendments being offered, but continued to vote against them. If people really want to secure the border, some additional changes need to be made.”
