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Cost of Border Deal Questioned Read this article for an excellent analysis of the implications of the Corker-Hoeven proposed additional spending to the Senate border/immigration bill. Border experts agree that the spending for additional border patrol agents and fencing is more than needed and probably more than is possible to effectively implement.

Arizona Sheds Anti-Immigrant Policies; House Should Take Note Kristian gives his thoughts on the implications of shifting immigration politics in Arizona: "A combination of real improvements along the border, a series of high-profile legal and political defeats, and a rallying of business and community leaders against the social and economic costs of anti-immigrant politics is ushering in a new, post-SB1070 era in Arizona.  As House Republicans in recent days have committed to SB1070 style anti-immigrant politics, it would be wise for them to pay attention to what has happened in Arizona in recent years."

On The Border, DHS Has Earned Congress’s Trust Simon recently published this op-ed analyzing why Republican criticism of DHS is misplaced and how real success achieved at the border should be guiding Congress’s debate over immigration reform.

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Babeu Urges House to Reject Senate Immigration Bill, Focus on Border Security During yesterday’s House Judiciary Committee hearing yesterday on the SAFE Act, Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu urged the House to reject the Senate immigration legislation and increase law enforcement and police authority. However Karen Tumlin, of the National Immigration Law Center, pushed back suggesting that would be too much to add to a bill that already increases enforcement.

Senate Rejects Republican Effort to Gut Immigration Bill The Gang of Eight compromise remained strong yesterday as the Senate defeated an amendment from Sen. Grassley with a 57-43 vote. The amendment would have delayed the pathway to citizenship provisions of the bill. Supporters and critics of the bill continue to work on border security provisions. 

Senate Immigration Authors Consider Border Control Change Several sponsors of the Senate immigration bill are trying to draft an alternative to Sen. John Cornyn’s RESULTS amendment which they fear could permanently impede the proposed path the citizenship for undocumented immigrants in the US. One of those sponsors, Sen. Chuck Schumer said, “We just want to make sure that it doesn’t forsake our principles, which is that there has to be an achievable, specific [border] trigger.”

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Gang of Eight Seeks Alternative to John Cornyn Amendment Members of the bipartisan Gang of Eight who drafted the original Senate immigration bill are pushing back against Senator John Cornyn’s RESULTS amendment that seeks to increase border enforcement saying it is a “poison pill.” The Cornyn amendment, meanwhile, is gaining more support from other Republicans.

Ted Poe, Lamar Smith, Bill Flores Propose Border Enforcement Crackdown Similar to Cornyn Plan Senator John Cornyn introduced an amendment to the Senate immigration bill currently being debated on the floor that would increase border security requirements. Seemingly following his lead, three members of the House have introduced the very similar “SMART Border Act” in the lower chamber.

“Purgatorio,” a Film about Lives on the U.S.-Mexico Border While immigration reform is being debated in the halls of Congress, filmmaker Rodrigo Reyes feels like lawmakers are not seeing the full picture of life at the border. He says his film “Purgatorio” attempts “to give you an x-ray of the border so you can really feel it, and then you can go off and talk about what’s going on.”

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Guest Workers Are the Best Border Security While border security is perhaps the main focus of the immigration reform debate at present, Tamar Jacoby explains why the guest worker merits more attention. As population demographics and the US workforce change, the national economy is going to require more low-skilled workers. The proposed Senate immigration reform bill includes valuable provisions for a worker-visa program. “The best antidote to illegal immigration is a legal immigration system that works.”

Republicans Seek More Border Control in Immigration Bill As Senate Republicans demand stricter border-security requirements in the immigration reform legislation proceeding through the Senate, Democrats are pushing back. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the legislation “should not make the path to citizenship contingent upon border-security goals that are impossible” to meet.

Who’s Crossing the Mexico Border? A New Survey Tries to Find Out In a new survey from the National Center for Border Security and Immigration at the University of Arizona, researchers interviewed more than 1,000 detainees at the Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector in 2012. The determination of immigrants to come to the US despite the trials of crossing the border lends support to the argument that the US needs to reform its immigration system, creating a clearer legal path for immigrants to come to work while more effectively securing the US-Mexico border.

In an era of extreme partisanship, immigration reform has been an opportunity for Democrats and Republicans to work across the aisle issue of import to all Americans, particularly in its effects on the economy. The bipartisan Gang of Eight drafted the Senate immigration bill that has since emerged from the Judiciary Committee, and a bipartisan group has also been working on immigration reform compromise in the House.

As S. 744 goes to the Senate floor for debate this week, NDN President Simon Rosenberg and President and CEO of ImmigrationWorks USA Tamar Jacoby, representing the Democrat and Republican positions respectively, met at the New America Foundation to continue this bipartisan engagement on immigration reform. They discussed where the legislation is now in view of each party and potential challenges for each side.

Both speakers praised the work of the Gang of Eight bill that strives for commonsense reform with compromise on border enforcement, an arduous path to citizenship, and a balance on employment-based visas. They also outlined the future challenges and potential pitfalls those compromises will face as they are tested by full Senate and possibly House debates.

Watch the video of the event:

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Senate GOP Leaders Face Tough Choice on Immigration Reform Republicans must balance their decision on immigration reform with the opinions of varied state constituents, from conservative grassroots contingents against reform to businesses and employers who need more legal immigrant labor. Senators Cornyn (R-Tex.) and McConnell (R-Ky.) will vote in favor of proceeding with debate on the Senate reform bill, but are unsure how they will vote in the end. Their support could be crucial to supporters trying to pass the bill with over sixty votes in the Senate.

Marco Rubio Lobbies On Immigration Reform Behind The Scenes In his effort toad more security measures to the Senate bill, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) appears to be doing some behind-the-scenes dealing. He reportedly asked Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) not to publicly express her support for the bill, which she did on Sunday to the delight of immigration reform supporters.

"Gang of Eight" Immigration Reform Bill Faces First Vote in Senate Today the Senate resumes consideration of the motion to proceed with S. 744, the Comprehensive Immigration Bill. Much is on the line, including border security measures and a path to citizenship, and the bill with face amendments either strengthening or threatening the compromise.

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Things Are Getting Ugly Fast for Immigration Reform As immigration reform hits the Senate floor this week, the path forward is looking more complicated from all sides. Senator Marco Rubio, member of the Gang of Eight that drafted the Senate bill, continues to call for tougher security measures. House Republicans last week raised two bills indicating broader opposition to immigration reform. Regardless, supporters in the Senate remain confident they can pass the immigration bill there. 

Immigration Reform Bill Already Tough Enough: Our View The USA Today Editorial Board criticizes Senate Republicans for attempting to derail possible immigration reform by adding unrealistic measures to an already tough bill. The proposed immigration bill builds on current government border spending and decreased immigration and includes security measures like E-Verify and an entry-exit system. However, unreasonable requirements for these security systems and border apprehensions should not be allowed to prevent the possibility of passing any legislation at all.

Ayotte Announces Critical GOP Support for Senate Immigration Bill Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) announced yesterday on CBS’s “Face of the Nation” that she would support the Senate immigration bill drafted by the bipartisan Gang of Eight. “This is a thoughtful bipartisan solution to a tough problem and so that's why I'm going to support it." The bill is expected to be debated on the Senate floor this week and Democrats will be seeking support from several other key Republicans. 

Updating Ports of Entry Will Help Preserve Our Vital Trade with Mexico

Modernizing our ports of entry is now an urgent national economic priority, and one of particular importance to Southern Arizona.

Despite a recession and slow growth on the U.S. side of the border and security challenges on the Mexican side, the trade relationship between our two countries has exploded in recent years. According to a recently released study (co-authored by Arizonan Erik Lee), trade between the U.S. and Mexico has increased from $300 billion in 2009 to a staggering $536 billion last year. Mexico is now the U.S.' third-largest trading partner and second-largest export market. Six million jobs in the U.S. are now dependent on U.S.-Mexico trade. All of these numbers, of course, will increase as trade flows continue to grow in the years ahead.

The immigration legislation making its way through Congress addresses legalization, border security, a transition to a more skills-based legal-immigration system and the national adoption of E-Verify. There is a growing bipartisan and bicameral consensus, however, about another key aspect of the emerging legislation as it relates to the border region, which deserves equal attention, if not more - the need to invest in, and modernize, our ports of entry with Mexico.

With the addition of a much tougher border-security regime in recent years, this doubling of our trade with Mexico - trade that is creating jobs on both sides of the border - in such a short period of time is putting strain on all 42 ports of entry that 70 percent of this trade flows through. According to a new study, delays at U.S.-Mexico border crossings costs the U.S. $7.8 billion annually, and could cost us more than $20 billion a year by 2020.

With the help of Arizona Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake, the Senate border and immigration bill intelligently addresses the new realities of a much more robust U.S.-Mexico trade relationship in two significant ways:

• More customs agents. The current Senate legislation would increase the number of customs agents at our ports of entry by 3,500, from 21,000 today to 24,500. These additional agents will go a long way to helping ensure that our ports can expeditiously process not just current trade flows, but much higher flows in the years ahead.

• Investment in port facilities. The current Senate legislation establishes a new grant program "to construct transportation and support infrastructure improvements at existing and new international border crossings necessary to facilitate safe, secure and efficient cross-border movement of people, motor vehicles, and cargo." This provision is a powerful endorsement of the need to invest far more in our valuable port infrastructure to meet current shortfalls and future needs.

In the House, the recently passed Border Security Results Act of 2013 contains provisions that are designed to "both enhance security and facilitate trade." The recently introduced Cross Border Trade Enhancement Act of 2013 offers enhanced staffing at the ports and infrastructure improvements via alternative financing mechanisms such as public-private partnerships. A similar bill has been introduced in the Senate.

Few states would benefit more from these investments than Arizona, and particularly my hometown of Tucson. At a recent forum in Washington, D.C., Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild said: "Our relationship with Mexico is a symbiotic relationship with the potential to yield vast dividends, both financially and culturally. Trade with Mexico generates jobs for Tucson in exports, logistics, supply-chain management, tourism, scientific, technical and professional expertise - but in order for Tucson to be a hub for international trade, we need the right infrastructure at the border."

The stakes for Arizona in this debate are high. Mexico is Arizona's top foreign-export market, and fully $13 billion a year of trade flows between Arizona and Mexico each year. In Pima County fully 5 percent of all taxable sales revenue comes from visitors from Mexico. So cutting border wait times that discourage trade and tourism from Mexico is clearly one of the most important economic development priorities for those in Tucson and the rest of Arizona.

The border and immigration legislation emerging from Congress will do a great deal to improve the economy of Southern Arizona in the years ahead. Smart and strategic investments in our ports of entry will allow increased movement of people and goods across our border with Mexico, helping create jobs and strengthening local businesses. The new immigration and border bill, if passed by Congress, could give a real and significant boost to the region's economy and help ensure the years ahead are prosperous ones.

Kristian Ramos is the policy director of the Washington-based New Policy Institute's 21st Border Initiative. He grew up in Tucson, graduating from Sabino High School.

Read article in the Arizona Daily Star

Your Daily Border Bulletin is up:

Scholars Find US-Mexico Border Filled with Potential Gains, Pitfalls The Wilson Center’s "The State of the Border Report" recommends a holistic approach to the border to address not only issues of security, but also trade and the environment. One of the authors Eric Lee of Arizona State University, said: "Our report, by focusing on four large areas of security, trade, sustainability and quality of life, shows quite clearly that all sorts of interactions and issues are present in the border region. And some of these, such as cross-border trade, are quite positive overall."

As Wars End, a Rush to Grab Dollars Spent on the Border The potential passage of a border and immigration reform bill in Congress has endless implications for the US economy, including business and jobs for military contracting companies. They have turned their attention toward the technology required to satisfy the requirements of securing the US-Mexico border.

Senate Resumes Immigration Reform Debate Today The Senate takes up the motion to proceed on S. 744, the “Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act” this morning.

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Rubio Balancing Immigration Revision with Fragile Support Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) continues to negotiate behind the scenes with Republicans in both the Senate and the House to build support for immigration reform legislation. “It’s very simple: If people want immigration reform, we’re going to have to improve the border-security elements of the bill, and we’ll have to make people confident that what we’re doing is enough,” Rubio said. “That’s what I’m going to focus on.” 

House Group: We’ve “Found a Way Forward” on Immigration The bipartisan group working on immigration reform in the House of Representatives announced last night that they have “found a way forward” on formulating a comprehensive bill for their chamber after meeting with select Senate Republicans. Though Idaho Republican Rep. Raul Labrador has stepped away from the group over healthcare issues, he said remains committed to immigration reform in the House.

Toeing the Line Perhaps one of the most important parts of the proposed immigration reform legislation pending in Congress includes investment in US ports of entry along the border. Carlos Puig, columnist for the Mexican newspaper Milenio, shares a vignette of how the currently overtaxed and inefficient border infrastructure is costing time and money. It would greatly benefit from the funding President Obama and many members of Congress have requested.