Georgia’s U.S. Senators Will Both Vote “No” on Immigration Bill, But It’s Expected to Pass

In a speech on the Senate floor, Chambliss said he wanted to be able to offer amendments on farm workers.

In a conversation with WABE’s Denis O’Hayer, Isakson said he likes the tougher border security provisions in the latest version of the bill.  But he objects to two details:  one, he said, would allow the path-to-citizenship provisions to go forward, even if some of the border security measures are held up by lawsuits.  The other would allow the Secretary of Homeland Security to decide whether the metrics for border security are in place.  Isakson wanted that determination left to Congress.

“We’ve made great progress on the border security provisions,” Isakson said.  “I think the provisions that are in it are great.  It’s the execution, and the insurance that border security will be a predicate, and a prerequisite, for legalization.”

The border security provisions that the bill says must be met before green cards can be given to people here illegally include a nearly two-fold increase in the number of Border Patrol agents along the U.S.-Mexico border, new security and technology, and some 350 new miles of border fencing.

Isakson said he expects the Senate to pass the bill and send it to the House, where he predicted the border security and path-to-citizenship sections will be split.  But he insisted Congress will act on both.

  Isakson said, “There’s been very little critical debate of what we finally did to come up with a way you bridge from illegal status to legal status, and what you have to do to do that.”