In a surprising move on Wednesday, the U.S. Senate approved an amendment sponsored by South Carolina Republican Sen. Jim DeMint that would require 700 miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border to be completed by the end of next year.
While debating an appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security, Sen. DeMint tacked on an amendment setting a new deadline for the border wall that was passed by a vote of 54-44, with 21 Democrats and 33 Republicans supporting the proposal. The vote is in contrast to moves by the Obama administration to cancel funding for an extension to the federal program, which has been accused of targeting low-income land owners with eminent domain, contaminating the environment, and generally not being a practical solution to curbing undocumented immigration.
As a result of legislation passed in 2006, approximately 700 miles of double-layer fencing—which would cover less than half of the actual border, and will be separated by intermittent gaps that are miles wide—is supposed to be constructed for "national security" purposes. While 370 miles of the fence were supposed to be completed by the end of 2008, so far the federal government has completed 34 miles of the border wall, amid a barrage of complaints from property owners, environmentalists and human rights groups.
The PBS program NOW recently broadcast a segment titled "Obama's Border Fence," documenting a variety of problems with the wall, with one being the lack of transparency from government contractors like Boeing, who are making millions on the project:
Another anti-immigration amendment
At the same Senate debate on homeland security funding, lawmakers also approved an amendment pushed by Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley that would allow employers to use the troubled E-Verify program to check a worker's employment verification at any time. Currently, companies are only allowed to use E-Verify—a free service including a federal compilation of databases with social security numbers and other information—when they are hiring new employees.
E-Verify is plagued by inaccuracies, with an estimated error rate of around 8 percent. There are also concerns that giving an employer power to use E-Verify at their own discretion would only spur racial profiling, create problems even for documented immigrants who are not citizens and lead to abuse of the service.
Despite this, the Senate passed the amendment, and yesterday Obama's Department of Homeland Security announced it's support for a regulation that will only award federal contracts to businesses who use E-Verify.
Groups like America's Voice and SEIU are working to oppose the amendment, which they say leads to the unfair firing of employees.
It's unknown exactly how these damaging amendments will come into play when Congress votes on immigration reform and when President Obama signs the next budget. Democratic New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, who head's the Senate's immigration committee, claims drafts of immigration reform legislation will be ready by Labor Day.
(Cross-posted at Gabacha.com)