Border Bulletin- Immigration Bill is Tougher on Crossings, Sierra Club backs immigration reform , More

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Wall Street Journal – Immigration Bill is Tougher on Crossings - The Senate immigration bill introduced last week calls for tripling the number of criminal prosecutions of migrants who illegally enter the U.S. along the busiest border area, but the court that handles cases there already has an overloaded docket and a chronic shortage of resources. Before 2005, migrants apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol were returned to their country or processed through civil immigration courts. As part of George W. Bush’s strategy to get tough on border policy, he launched a program dubbed Operation Streamline mandating that those arrested for unlawful entry would be prosecuted in criminal court and, if convicted, face a prison sentence.

Politico – Sierra Club backs immigration reform - Immigration reform supporters have a new ally — the environmental lobby. The Sierra Club’s board voted Wednesday to support comprehensive immigration reform, POLITICO has learned. The backing from the nation’s oldest environmental group is a major shift that could help immigration reform supporters gain momentum as they try to push the measure through the Senate. It is another sign that some of the historical opponents to overhauling the country’s immigration laws, like evangelicals, are switching sides in this controversial debate.

ABC News – Schumer and Mccain See Huge Majority for Immigration Bill - Two drafters of the Senate’s bipartisan immigration bill believe they can achieve the impossible in today’s fractious Congress: convince majorities of both Republicans and Democrats in the upper chamber to support the proposal. “Maybe this is hopeful, but it would be wonderful if we could get a majority on both sides,” Sen. Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), a leading Democrat in the “Gang of Eight,” told reporters at a breakfast sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor. “I think it’s very doable,” added Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), a top Republican in the “Gang.”