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Alex Altman<\/strong> Just two weeks ago, Republican Senators were boasting about big plans to spend $46 billion over the next 10 years to enhance security on the southern border. \u201cAlmost overkill,\u201d Tennessee Republican Bob Corker said of the plan. \u201cWell oversufficient,\u201d added Arizona Republican John McCain. \u201cWe\u2019ll be the most militarized border since the fall of the Berlin Wall.\u201d The Senators meant this as a good thing.<\/p>\n But as the bill moves to the House, the excess is beginning to look like a liability. The deal, which helped pass the Senate rewrite of U.S. immigration laws, is unlikely to sway House Republicans who insist on securing the border before some 11 million undocumented immigrants can begin the naturalization process. And it is alienating allies who are vital to immigration reform\u2019s chances in the House, including a prominent Latino advocacy group and at least one Democratic Representative.<\/p>\n In an unexpected wrinkle, even authorities on the border are balking, saying the influx of agents could create more problems than it would solve. \u201cThe majority of the sheriffs I\u2019ve talked to are not in favor of an additional 19,000 border-patrol agents,\u201d says Donald Reay, executive director of the Texas Border Sheriff\u2019s Coalition, whose members are still weighing the Senate bill. Reay has concerns about where the agents would be stationed and the time it could take to perform background checks on so many new hires.<\/p>\n
swampland.time.com<\/a>
July 8, 2013<\/p>\n