Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
I posted about the "border surge" amendment from Sens. Bob Corker (R-TN) and John Hoeven (R-SD) to the "Gang of Eight" comprehensive immigration bill last week. The price for GOP nativism and racism: $30+ billion wasted dollars. As Chris Hayes pointed out:
Now when you were evaluating — you right now watching this — the American
voter, the American citizen, the American taxpayer, you`re thinking: is
this a smart way to spend money?I would like you to keep in mind these two important things. The Migration
Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank, found that in 2012 we spent $18
billion on immigration enforcement agencies, a 43 percent increase from
2006. Here`s the kicker. That $18 billion, that`s more than we spent on
all other law enforcement agencies combined by 24 percent.And do you happen to know what the net migration between Mexico and the
United States currently is? It is zero. Zero.
The most recent numbers show that from 2005 to 2010, the net migration is
zero. A huge change from 1995 to 2000, the net migration from Mexico to
the U.S. was more than 2 million people. But from 2005 to 2010, the number
of people coming here from Mexico was about the same as the number of
people going to Mexico from the U.S.So we`re already spending almost $18 billion a year on a problem that does
not exist. And Republicans in the Senate are poised to add $30 billion to
that all over a handshake deal to win votes. And remember, these are the
exact same people who say they care about spending and the deficit.
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said on Friday that the new border security
amendment added to the immigration reform bill in the Senate is nothing
more than a gift to defense contractors. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) conceded as much on FOX News Sunday, saying that The Immigration Bill 'Practically Militarized the Border.'
So naturally our nativist governor Jan Brewer now supports the "Gang of Eight" comprehensive immigration reform bill. Gov. Brewer: Border Surge Deal A ‘Victory For Arizona’:
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) reversed course on the immigration issue
over the weekend, declaring the Senate's border surge deal a "victory
for Arizona."
Brewer appeared Monday afternoon on Fox News, echoing a position she first debuted on that channel a day earlier.
"I really, really am claiming victory for Arizona in regards to the
border surge," Brewer told Fox News. "I was writing to the federal
government and to Sen. Schumer way back in June of 2010 in regards to
the border surge that we needed to see completed before we moved
forward. So today hopefully that will get out of the Senate and we can
see that they are going to move forward."
Arizona Sens. John McCain (R) and Jeff Flake (R) are co-authors of
the comprehensive immigration reform bill. The new border provision in
particular appeals to Brewer, who signed Arizona's tough SB 1070
immigration law, which was largely struck down by the Supreme Court in 2012.
So Governor Brewer is happier than a pig in shit over militarizing our border with Mexico and pissing away $30+ billion dollars to buy off nativist Republicans like her, while throwing tax dollars at defense contractors that would be better spent elsewhere.
UPDATE: At 5:30 PM ET today, the Senate will vote on the "border surge" amendment, a cloture vote that is expected to set up a final vote on the legislation by the end of the week.
UPDATE: The cloture vote passed 67 to 27.