WASHINGTON - The bipartisan push to overhaul the nation’s immigration laws took a major step forward Monday evening when the Senate endorsed a proposal to substantially bolster security along the nation’s southern borders, part of a measure that would provide a path to citizenship for 11 million illegal aliens already in the country.
The 67-27 vote prevented any filibuster of the plan to devote roughly $40 billion over the next decade to border-enforcement measures,including nearly doubling the number of border agents to 40,000 and completing 700 miles of fencing. Opponents of the enhanced-security proposal questioned whether the steps would ever be taken and said the legislation should require that the border be secure before illegal aliens could seek legal status.
In an unusual slap at members of his party as well as Democrats, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said it appeared that lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle “very much want a fig leaf” on border security to justify a vote for immigration.
But the solid bipartisan support for the border-security proposal by two Republican senators, Bob Corker of Tennessee and John Hoeven of North Dakota, suggested that advocates of the overhaul had the votes needed to clear remaining hurdles and pass the legislation, which was drafted by a bipartisan “Gang of Eight” senators, perhaps before lawmakers leave town for the July 4 recess.
Senators and aides said that Monday’s vote offered a preliminary glimpse of roughly how many senators will vote for the bill’s final passage. Several senators missed the vote because of flight delays, and Democrats said they could have landed at least 69 votes had all legislators been present.
“The bill has been improved dramatically tonight by this vote, there’s no question,” Corker said. “Hopefully there will be other improvements made with other amendments, and my sense is we’re going to pass an immigration bill out of the United States Senate, which will be no doubt historic.”
For the Arkansas delegation, Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor voted for the bill, while Republican Sen. John Boozman voted against it.
Earlier Monday, speaking at the White House to business leaders in favor of the legislation, President Barack Obama called for speedy action: “Now is the time to do it,” he said.
He said the measure would be good for the economy, for business and for workers who are “oftentimes exploited at low wages.”
As for the overall economy, he said, “I think every business leader here feels confident that they’ll be in a stronger position to continue to innovate, to continue to invest, to continue to create jobs and ensure that this continues to be the land of opportunity for generations to come.”
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated the legislation will reduce the deficit and increase economic growth in each of the next two decades. It also is predicting unemployment will rise slightly through 2020, and that average wages will move lower over a decade.
The Corker-Hoeven plan helped bring on board more than a dozen Republicans, many of whom said they were reluctant to support any immigration overhaul that did not secure the southern border and guard against a future wave of illegal aliens. Their amendment also will require a $3.2 billion high-tech border surveillance plan - including drone aircraft and long-range thermal-imaging cameras - as well as an electronic employment verification system and a visa entry/exit system at all air and sea ports.
All of those security measures must be in place before any alien can become a legal permanent resident and receive a green card.
Despite the strong bipartisan support for the amendment, any final bill passed by the Senate will head to the Republican-controlled House, where it already faces vocal opposition. Speaker John Boehner of Ohio has publicly said that he will not bring any immigration bill up for a vote that does not have the support of the majority of House Republicans. That decision pleased the conservative wing of his caucus but also raises hurdles for any broad immigration bill in the House, where many Republicans oppose any pathway to citizenship.
Hoeven sounded a note of cautious optimism Monday night after the vote.
“I think that we’re on track to move the bill forward, and then, remember, it’s got to go to the House,” Hoeven said. “There’s more work to be done, but we’re working on it, we’re making progress - more to do - but we want to continue to improve it in the Senate and likewise in the House.”
Despite a clamoring for stronger border security from many Republicans in the Senate and the House, some leading Republicans dug in against the Corker-Hoeven plan, and a majority of Senate Republicans did not vote to take up the measure.
Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, said that he could not “support an amendment cobbled together at the 11th hour.”
“The underlying bill puts symbolism over substance, and they’re hoping the American people won’t notice,” he added.
Other Republicans and advocacy groups opposed to the bill also offered complaints: that the legislation was drafted in private by a small group of senators; that the bill was too long and not given sufficient time for discussion; that the legislation needed to be even stronger when it came to border security; that the Corker-Hoeven amendment was simply a toothless provision intended to give Republicans cover to vote for a bill they still viewed as “amnesty.”
On Monday, a group of 14 Republican senators sent a letter to Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, calling for a “serious, extensive amendment process.”
“This is deeply, deeply disturbing,” read the letter, referring to the fact that only a fraction of the amendments filed to the bill had been voted on. “It is effectively shutting down the American people’s ability to be heard on this issue through their elected representatives.”
As the procedural vote wound to a close Monday, the two sides were still working on a deal that would allow both Democrats and Republicans to bring up 10 more amendments each to the final bill - an agreement that would likely allow Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, to introduce a provision to further strengthen the electronic employment verification system in the bill.
Other advocates worried that Democrats were making too many concessions.
Information for this article was contributed by Ashley Parker of The New York Times; and by David Epso, Erica Werner, Mary Clare Jalonick and Jim Kuhnhenn of The Associated Press.
Front Section, Pages 1 on 06/25/2013