By: Mickey McCarter
05/07/2013 ( 8:00am)
Congress will debate several aspects of border security policy this week as Senate committees turn their attention to the bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform bill introduced on April 17.
While the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will examine border security measures implicit in the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013 (S. 744), the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee plans to block any measures imposing new border security fees.
Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) has scheduled a hearing of his committee Tuesday to hear how the bill would affect border security operations from officials at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including Kevin McAleenan, acting deputy commissioner of US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Michael Fisher, chief of US Border Patrol. Other witnesses at the hearing include David Heyman, DHS assistant secretary for policy, Anne Richards, DHS assistant inspector general, and Daniel Ragsdale, deputy director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), a chief sponsor of the immigration reform bill, welcomed news of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee's hearing on it.
"I am encouraged that the homeland security committee, which oversees the federal department and agencies tasked with securing our border and enforcing our immigration laws, will examine the immigration legislation," Rubio said after announcement of the hearing on May 2. "We need more transparency and greater scrutiny of this bill, and it's important for this committee to further help us identify ways we can secure our borders, strengthen interior enforcement and end today's de facto amnesty of having 11 million illegal immigrants living here in violation of our laws. This kind of discussion and debate is essential for America's security and for fixing our immigration system."
The other seven sponsors of the Senate immigration reform bill include John McCain (R-Ariz.), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.). Of the "Gang of Eight" sponsors, only McCain is a member of the homeland security committee.
The Senate Judiciary Committee meanwhile is scheduled to hold a hearing to markup the comprehensive immigration reform bill on Thursday.
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) announced Monday his intention to use the bill as a vehicle to stop DHS from imposing any new border crossing fees.
At issue is a separate proposal contained in the White House budget proposal for DHS in fiscal year 2014. That proposal would direct CBP to study the feasibility of imposing a border crossing fee to all visitors of the United States who cross land borders.
The exact language of the bill reads:
The commissioner of Customs and Border Protection shall: (1) conduct a study assessing the feasibility and cost relating to establishing and collecting a land border crossing fee for both land border pedestrians and passenger vehicles along the Northern and Southwest borders of the United States; the study should include (a) the feasibility of collecting from existing operators on the land border such as bridge commissions, toll operators, commercial passenger bus, and commercial passenger rail; (b) requirements to collect at land ports of entry where existing capability is not present; and (c) any legal and regulatory impediments to establishing and collecting a land border crossing fee; and (2) complete the study within nine months of enactment of this act.
Leahy filed an amendment to the comprehensive immigration reform bill to block such a fee from ever being collected.
"It does not take a study to know that charging Canadian relatives, friends, tourists, business people and shoppers a fee to enter the United States is a bad idea. I do not intend to let this half-baked idea see the light of day," Leahy said in a statement.
The border-crossing fee "would deflate thriving commerce" key to border communities along the Northern border, Leahy said. The bill would be particularly harmful to Vermont. About 300,000 Canadians visit the United States every day and spend about $235 million here. In 2006, Canadians visited Vermont specifically 642,400 times and spent $115 million in the state, according to Leahy.
"Here in Vermont our economic prosperity is interwoven with Quebec's prosperity," Leahy said. "The Burlington International Airport depends on Quebec for nearly one-third of its passengers. Resorts like Jay Peak draw thousands of people south to Vermont every day, contributing to our local economy. And there are dozens of businesses producing goods -- from IBM's semiconductors, to Barry Callebaut's chocolates -- that depend on a free and open border to create jobs here in Vermont and in Quebec. That's not theory; it's a practical, daily fact of life in our state, and it's worth keeping and defending. A new fee on these activities would threaten the core of our economy."
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) joined Leahy in writing a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano urging DHS to drop the proposal to study the border-crossing fee.
While the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will examine border security measures implicit in the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013 (S. 744), the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee plans to block any measures imposing new border security fees.
Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) has scheduled a hearing of his committee Tuesday to hear how the bill would affect border security operations from officials at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including Kevin McAleenan, acting deputy commissioner of US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Michael Fisher, chief of US Border Patrol. Other witnesses at the hearing include David Heyman, DHS assistant secretary for policy, Anne Richards, DHS assistant inspector general, and Daniel Ragsdale, deputy director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), a chief sponsor of the immigration reform bill, welcomed news of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee's hearing on it.
"I am encouraged that the homeland security committee, which oversees the federal department and agencies tasked with securing our border and enforcing our immigration laws, will examine the immigration legislation," Rubio said after announcement of the hearing on May 2. "We need more transparency and greater scrutiny of this bill, and it's important for this committee to further help us identify ways we can secure our borders, strengthen interior enforcement and end today's de facto amnesty of having 11 million illegal immigrants living here in violation of our laws. This kind of discussion and debate is essential for America's security and for fixing our immigration system."
The other seven sponsors of the Senate immigration reform bill include John McCain (R-Ariz.), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.). Of the "Gang of Eight" sponsors, only McCain is a member of the homeland security committee.
The Senate Judiciary Committee meanwhile is scheduled to hold a hearing to markup the comprehensive immigration reform bill on Thursday.
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) announced Monday his intention to use the bill as a vehicle to stop DHS from imposing any new border crossing fees.
At issue is a separate proposal contained in the White House budget proposal for DHS in fiscal year 2014. That proposal would direct CBP to study the feasibility of imposing a border crossing fee to all visitors of the United States who cross land borders.
The exact language of the bill reads:
The commissioner of Customs and Border Protection shall: (1) conduct a study assessing the feasibility and cost relating to establishing and collecting a land border crossing fee for both land border pedestrians and passenger vehicles along the Northern and Southwest borders of the United States; the study should include (a) the feasibility of collecting from existing operators on the land border such as bridge commissions, toll operators, commercial passenger bus, and commercial passenger rail; (b) requirements to collect at land ports of entry where existing capability is not present; and (c) any legal and regulatory impediments to establishing and collecting a land border crossing fee; and (2) complete the study within nine months of enactment of this act.
Leahy filed an amendment to the comprehensive immigration reform bill to block such a fee from ever being collected.
"It does not take a study to know that charging Canadian relatives, friends, tourists, business people and shoppers a fee to enter the United States is a bad idea. I do not intend to let this half-baked idea see the light of day," Leahy said in a statement.
The border-crossing fee "would deflate thriving commerce" key to border communities along the Northern border, Leahy said. The bill would be particularly harmful to Vermont. About 300,000 Canadians visit the United States every day and spend about $235 million here. In 2006, Canadians visited Vermont specifically 642,400 times and spent $115 million in the state, according to Leahy.
"Here in Vermont our economic prosperity is interwoven with Quebec's prosperity," Leahy said. "The Burlington International Airport depends on Quebec for nearly one-third of its passengers. Resorts like Jay Peak draw thousands of people south to Vermont every day, contributing to our local economy. And there are dozens of businesses producing goods -- from IBM's semiconductors, to Barry Callebaut's chocolates -- that depend on a free and open border to create jobs here in Vermont and in Quebec. That's not theory; it's a practical, daily fact of life in our state, and it's worth keeping and defending. A new fee on these activities would threaten the core of our economy."
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) joined Leahy in writing a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano urging DHS to drop the proposal to study the border-crossing fee.
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