Democrats Stop McCain effort to Send 6,000 Troops to Border

May 27, 2010 18:05


Democrats also repelled more than $2 billion in additional border security spending proposed by border state Republicans John Cornyn of Texas and Jon Kyl of Arizona. There will be no move on border security until the Democrats get amnesty for illegals.

From Newsmax.com

President Barack Obama’s Democratic allies in the Senate on Thursday killed a move by presidential rival John McCain to send an additional 6,000 National Guard troops to the U.S-Mexico border.

The Arizona Republican says the security situation along the order has deteriorated so badly that 3,000 guard troops are needed just to help protect his state. Even though McCain won support from a dozen Democrats, he failed to muster the 60-vote supermajority required to adopt his plan under Senate rules.

Democrats also repelled more than $2 billion in additional border security spending proposed by border state Republicans John Cornyn of Texas and Jon Kyl of Arizona.

The action came as the Senate continued debate on an almost $60 billion measure funding Obama’s troop surge in Afghanistan, foreign aid and domestic disaster relief.

The GOP proposals were comparable to those made several years ago when many Republicans pressed border security steps, such as a border fence, instead of a more comprehensive approach to overhauling the nation’s immigration system. Obama supports comprehensive immigration reforms but prospects for substantive legislation appear bleak in an election year. Just Tuesday, he promised to send 1,200 Guard troops to the border.

In the past, McCain has advocated changes to immigration laws that would give illegal immigrants already in the U.S. an opportunity to earn their citizenship. But as violence along the border has escalated — and in the face of a spirited primary challenge from former Rep. J.D. Hayworth — McCain has adopted a harder line on immigration issues.

“The borders are broken,” McCain said Thursday. “We have an obligation to our citizens to secure our border and allow them to lead lives where they not live in fear.”

Kyl proposed expanding a program that throws illegal immigrants in jail for two weeks before deporting them back to Mexico, which he said is a deterrent to them trying again.

Cornyn wanted money for state and local law enforcement agencies, unmanned drone aircraft and other equipment, and additional Border Patrol officers and immigration agents.

Both amendments got 54 votes but fell short of the required 60-vote supermajority.

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