Tab For Border Security: $1.9B
As Congress Debates Immigration, Bush Sends Congress $1.9B Request
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Play CBS Video Video Fencing Off The Border The Senate authorized the construction of a 370-mile fence along the Mexican border. But Sharyl Attkisson reports that members of Congress are still far apart on many immigration issues.
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Video Immigration Debate Heats Up The debate over immigration reform continued on Capitol Hill, as supporters rallied against a proposed bill to deny citizenship to illegal aliens who've committed a felony. Aleen Sirgany reports.
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Video The Immigration Divide The immigration proposals that President Bush laid out in his Oval Office address drew an unusually mixed response from congressional Democrats and Republicans. Jim Axelrod reports.
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A boy crosses a bridge in San Luis, Sonora, Mexico, Wednesday, May 17, 2006, as seen from San Luis, Ariz. This port of entry is part of the busiest Border Patrol station in the country. (AP Photo/Matt York)
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Immigrants rallied Wednesday, May 17, 2005, within blocks of the Capitol in Washington, where the Senate backed an immigration provision but also supported a proposal to build a border fence. (CBS)
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California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (right) is not convinced that using National Guard troops along the border is a good idea and says he needs more information before deciding whether to comply with the plan. (AP)
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Sandra Lacayo, left, and Amelia Turrubiates, center, watches as other members of The Alianza 17 de Marzo, board a bus, May 16, 2006, in Atlanta. The group is part of a caravan traveling to Washington to lobby legislators about immigration. (AP Photo/Gregory Smith)
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Supporters chant in Atlanta as they send off legal immigrants and their supporters aboard a bus on May 16, 2006. (AP Photo/Gregory Smith)
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Interactive Immigration And Naturalization Who's coming to America? Find out what's being done to screen for terrorists and take a citizenship quiz.
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Video Archive Hot Topic: Immigration Video Coverage: CBS News examines the heated debate over immigration in the United States.
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The White House said the money would pay for the "first 1,000 of 6,000 new Border Patrol agents that will be deployed in the next two years," as well as the temporary deployment of up to 6,000 National Guard troops to states along the Mexican border. The request includes funds for new fencing and other barriers as well as two new unmanned surveillance aircraft and five helicopters to curb illegal immigration.
The White House sent the request to Congress as the president traveled to Yuma, Ariz., to dramatize his commitment to border control and the Senate labored over the most sweeping overhaul of immigration law in two decades.
After voting narrowly and largely along party lines Wednesday night to bar guest workers from petitioning on their own for legal status, the Senate reconsidered. On a bipartisan vote of 56-43, the prohibition was diluted to say guest workers may generally seek legal status on their own if the government determines no American workers are available to fill the job.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said the proposal that cleared on Wednesday night was designed to protect American workers, and the replacement would "put American workers in the back seat and foreign workers...in the front seat."
Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said, "I think there is a higher value in not having the immigrant subject to the control of the employer where there may be coercion and pressure..."
Senate leaders have said they hope for passage of the controversial legislation by next week. It includes measures to tighten control over the borders, create a new guest worker program and offer a path to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants already in the country. Prospects for final congressional passage this year are highly uncertain, given the strong opposition among Republicans to Mr. Bush's proposals concerning citizenship.
Mr. Bush's funding request came with a pledge that it would not lead to a short-term increase in the deficit. The White House said it would offset the spending by "delaying certain less-urgent military procurement efforts" to future spending bills.
The developments came one day after a series of clashes that made the national debate over immigration seem like a family feud, Republican style.
"Regardless of what the president says, what he is proposing is amnesty," said Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., the lawmaker who would lead House negotiators in any attempt to draft a compromise immigration bill later this year.
©MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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