Page 18 - Border Security Issue News Today

We have an utterly broken immigration system in the senate bill, it does a lot to move this country towards a sane immigration policy. what the house should do is pass a version of this legislation that can be conferenced together, and the country can take a step forward in fixing this problem. which is an enormous one. we have a permanent underclass that lives in the shadows in this country. and we ought to fix it. and this has always been premised on the notion that there is a path to legaliza...

Billion border surge because the key thing it didnt do was tie that apprehension rate of illegal border crossings to the path to citizenship. as long as that, you know, cornyn language isnt in there, theyre okay with even if its wasteful, excessive, theyre okay with putting in there in the name of getting more republican votes and palatable to the house. what do you make of that calculation? >> if this is going to happen during the 113th congress, it has to pass the senate with a very robust, bi...

Luke russert is joining me on the phone now. >> reporter: things are moving forward, thomas. the importance of this, above all else is politics. the immigration reform bill they want to get to 70 votes. they want overwhelming supportive measure coming out of the senate for the house gop to punt the bill. one of the big issues the house gop has about this border security issue, they said it was not secure enough. john boehner called some of the provisions laughable earlier this week. this group o...

Anything. this is the difference between marco rubio. i asked him something, dana, that conservatives have been saying. we need an undamaged marco rubio to run for the white house. all these bigger than immigration reform, it will get done without you senator, can you walk away now. what do you say to the republican party that says we need you. he basically said andrea, no, this is the right thing to do. i dont think it is 95% correct. theres a lot more needs to be done. especially the law enfor...

Didnt want his hands on anything. this is the difference between marco rubio. i asked him something, dana, that conservatives have been saying. we need an undamaged marco rubio to run for the white house. all these scandals are bigger than immigration reform, it will get done without you senator, can you walk away now. what do you say to the republican party that says we need you. he basically said andrea, no, this is the right thing to do. i dont think it is 95% correct. theres a lot more needs...

Border security issue is duly addressed? >> well, i thought in the legislation that we have -- the senate has before it, its addressed and addressed robustly with money, with timelines -- >> the six-month timeline youre referring to? >> yes. with the ability to enhance security that is already the highest in u.s. history. >> i want to stop you there. its already the highest in u.s. history. so is this discussion about more border security just smoke and mirrors? if we are, in fact, at the highes...

Particularly benghazi and the irs. we need clear, verifiable metrics that the border is secure. lord knows the republican party needs to bring hispanics into the club because essentially by 2043, this is going to be a minority-majority nation and there is no way the republican water can win with the white vote alone. >> julie, can i answer that? >> julie: go ahead. >> yeah, the fact the border security issue is a red herring. the fact is that crime along the border has gone down. its at historic...

But there is way to address it without saying this calls into question the overall scheme of immigration reform and how to treat people with asylum. martha: i agree but i think the border security issue as you rightly point out was front and center before the boston issue and asylum issue are very much connected. mary catherine, maybe what we have here is bloated bureaucracy who gets in and who gets out and how large the agencies are and how completely inefficient in some ways they appear to be,...

I think that part of what the frustration you saw yesterday was the sense that there are stories-- i saw three stories today about things that are getting cut out in local communities because the quest and it could be that there isnt this sense that things have really changed and theres frustration, right? but the idea that there isnt going to be pain when we cut 85 million dollars out of the budget and that things wont really be felt is itself kind of a silly argument. of course it will and tha...

All this. how do you secure the border and make it more secure? >> i think one thing to remember, the senators, including senator sessions who sent this letter are not exactly known as being super excited about immigration reform. that is sort of where they are coming from. from what ive heard they are including this trigger idea that was rubios idea, that you wont be able to actually apply for citizenship until there was some sort of certification that the border was secure. so, you know, if th...