John Cornyn’s Big Ideas on Immigration
The Texas Republican wants stricter border patrol provisional “triggers” before registered immigrants are allowed to apply for green card status. His amendment would require 100 percent operational control of the Southern borders and that 90 percent of illegal border crossers be apprehended. It would also require 100 percent border surveillance, or situational awareness, of each one-mile segment of the Southern border and installment of a national E-Verify system before registered immigrants can pursue green cards.
Cornyn’s amendment would also add 10,000 Border Patrol officers over five years and deliver emergency funds for border control, including $1 billion a year in entry staffing and infrastructure.
The Texas senator is also seeking to include “serious misdemeanors” alongside felonies as criteria that would prohibit immigrants from pursuing legal status. Those crimes include domestic violence, aggravated assault, child abuse, violation of a protection order and drunken driving under the bill, according to a description of the amendment obtained by POLITICO.
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