Senate Begins Immigration Bill Markup; Bill Adds CBP Officers, Amendments on POE Infrastructure Discussed
Senate markup of the immigration overhaul bill -- which provides CBP with additional officers and technology -- began May 9, and included debate over tripling the number border patrol agents on the U.S.-Mexico border, leveraging public private funds to improve ports of entry, and ending border crossing fees. The bill, S-744, requires an additional 3,500 CBP officers no later than Sept. 30, 2017. The CBP Commissioner would also be required to deploy additional equipment and technology to ramp up border security (read the bill here). Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., one of the so-called gang of eight who crafted the bill, said the additional CBP officers could be border patrol agents or customs officials. The bill leaves it up to the discretion of CBP, Schumer said. “In some places you may need more agents, in other places you don’t.”
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The Senate Judiciary Committee spent nearly the entirety of May 9 going through the amendments to Title I of the bill, which covers border security. There have been 300 amendments filed on the bill (see them all here). Committee member Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, introduced one to triple the number of border patrol officers on the U.S.-Mexico border and quadruple the equipment and technology assets stationed along the border (here). The amendment, which failed on a 5-13 vote, raised concern from other senators about the price tag of such an increase. Tripling border patrol would take about $30-40 billion, said Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who said he shared the “desire to put more resources on the border, but we have fiscal restraints here and also some time restraints as well.”
Fellow Texas Republican John Cornyn also introduced an amendment boosting CBP officers -- adding 5,000 officers and 350 staff (here). The amendment would also create a private-public cost-sharing program to construct port-of-entry facilities. The overall bill “needs to be beefed up when it comes to staffing and infrastructure at these facilities,” Cornyn said. He cited a University of Southern California study that said just one additional CBP officer adds $2 million to the U.S. GDP, “because of the benefit of facilitating bilateral trade.” He said the return on investment from adding additional officers would outweigh the cost of hiring them. Cornyn withdrew the amendment at the request of other Senators on the committee, who said they supported the idea and wanted to work together to expand it further; “to lower the cost, keep the concept,” Schumer said.
Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., did pass one of his amendments, which prohibits border crossing fees for pedestrians or passenger vehicles along the Southern and Northern borders, and prohibits Department of Homeland Security from conducting any studies relating to border crossing fees. Another amendment creating a grant program to improve transportation infrastructure at international border crossings, introduced by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., also passed. The Committee will pick up the markup next week.