Border Enforcement Should Be Done First

Washington, D.C. - Idaho Senator Mike Crapo is co-sponsoring an amendment to the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act.  The RESULTS amendment, or Requiring Enforcement, Security and safety, & Upgrading Legitimate Trade and travel Simultaneously, introduced by Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas), would require the government to meet border enforcement goals before granting legal status to the nation's immigrants in the country illegally. 

"Rarely does an issue invoke more interest from Idahoans than immigration reform and border security," Crapo said.  "The bill in its current form is flawed, filled with more empty promises of border security that the American people are tired of hearing.  Before any permanent residential status can be given, the southern border must be secured to prevent an illegal immigration problem from occurring in the future.  Some on the other side have called the RESULTS amendment a "poison pill" to the underlying legislation.  If this amendment would kill the bill, there is no reason for "border security" to be in the title.  Idahoans expect the borders of this country to be secure, and so do I." 

The RESULTS amendment, as amended, if adopted, would prevent an immigrant in the United States illegally from obtaining legal status-provisional or otherwise, until the government achieves 100 percent of monitoring capability at every segment of the border and is able to apprehend 90 percent of attempted illegal crossings.  The amendment calls for a fully operational biometric system for tracking visa holders at all land and sea ports, as well as a nationwide E-Verify system.  These triggers would have to be certified jointly as operational by the Department of Homeland Security Secretary and the Government Accountability Office Comptroller General before any legal status is granted.  Further, the measure increases the number of Border Patrol and Customs officers by 10,000 over a five year period. 

"This amendment does not change my opposition to any form of amnesty," Crapo added.  "No person who breaks the law and enters the U.S. illegally should obtain any benefit toward either permanent legal residency or citizenship as a result of their illegal conduct.  This is unfair both to American citizens and to those who have gone through legal channels for immigration to the U.S."