Martha McSally and Jeff Flake propose a costly and ineffective ‘border security’ bill

The Arizona Republic in an editorial opinion today takes Arizona Senator Jeff Flake to task for his sponsoring the “Secure the border First Act of 2015,” after he was a member of the Gang of Eight who crafted the comprehensive immigration reform bill that passed the Senate in 2013 with overwhelming bipartisan support.

The Republic curiously gives freshman congresswoman Martha McSally (R-AZ)  a pass for attaching her name to the “Secure the border First Act of 2015” as a sponsor in the House. McSally, Homeland Security Chairman Introduce Bill to Improve Border Security: “U.S. Representative Martha McSally today joined chairman of the Homeland Security Committee Michael McCaul to introduce The Secure Our Borders First Act, legislation to gain and maintain control of our nation’s land and maritime borders.”

I suppose the difference in treatment is that Martha McSally is a ‘Deportation Republican’ aligned with the nativist base of the GOP led by Rep. Steve King (R-IA), while the editors express disappointment with Sen. Flake for not being as enlightened as they once imagined him to be.

The criticisms that the editors level against Sen. Flake for the “Secure the border First Act of 2015” apply with equal validity to Rep. Martha McSally. Jeff Flake is now part of the immigration problem:

Arizona’s junior senator was one of the Gang of Eight, the bipartisan group that tried to reform the United States’ broken immigration law in the last session of Congress. They were able to get a good bill out of the Senate, but it died in the House.

So, apparently, did hopes for comprehensive reform, especially after President Barack Obama acted unilaterally in exempting some immigrants from deportation. That hardened Republican conservatives in their opposition to “amnesty.”

A new session has started, and now Flake is co-sponsoring a hard-nosed bill, the Secure the Border First Act of 2015. It would prescribe where fences must be built and what other infrastructure must be added.

A press release included all the usual rhetoric about a “porous” border and an unreliable president. It feeds the Republican base and the fantasy that a fence is the panacea. It offers nothing that would actually fix the immigration system.

Fences can only do so much. Nearly half of those in this country entered legally, then overstayed their visas. Nothing in Flake’s new bill addresses that problem.

Nor does it address why they’re coming here: for jobs. Like immigrants throughout American history, they want a better life for their children. And there is a market for their labor.

The Gang of Eight bill recognized that. Through reasonable compromise, it sought to meet demand while more thoughtfully controlling who crossed the border. It would have done more to slow illegal immigration than an expanded fence will.

Unfortunately, a reasonable immigration bill is unlikely to pass this Congress. That’s a shame.

* * *

Pursuing the false promise of a border-first bill solves nothing. It’s unlikely to soften immigration hardliners, who will never consider the border secure enough. And it won’t fix a broken system.

Flake’s interest in immigration reform is in the right place. But this time, he’s pursing the wrong answer.

Dan Shearer of the Green Valley News reports on McSally’s misbegotten bill. McSally: Border strategy will protect rural residents:

McSally, who sits on the Committee on Homeland Security, is helping craft The Secure Our Borders Act, which retools border strategy by emphasizing technology, National Guard funding and new infrastructure, among other measures. It has been called the toughest border security bill ever introduced in Congress.

McSally included an amendment to the bill calling for the Border Patrol to deploy agents “as close to the physical land border as possible” and to “deploy the maximum practicable number of Border Patrol agents to forward operating bases along the southern land border.” The amendment also calls for a commission that consults with ranchers to independently verify that the border is secure.

The $10 billion plan [$1 billion per year for 10 years], which requires the Department of Homeland Security to achieve 100 percent operational control of high traffic areas of the Southwest border in two years, passed out of committee Wednesday on an 18-12 vote and is expected to go to the full House this week. A similar bill was introduced in the Senate on Wednesday by three senators, including Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Arizona.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said the standards the bill is trying to set are “impossible to achieve” and called the bill “unworkable, plain and simple.”

On Saturday, Rep. McSally joined more than 20 members of Congress and chairman of the Homeland Security Committee Michael McCaul on a border tour and discussion in Bisbee. The Sierra Vista Herald reports, Congress on the border:

Rep. McCaul is chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security and Rep. McSally is chairperson of the subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response and Communications.

The committee on Homeland Security has proposed a bill, the Secure Our Borders First Act, that calls for the placement of more Border Patrol agents on the border, the construction of additional forward operating bases, the installation of more fencing where needed, and to begin using the latest technology in an effort to stop crime at the border, McCaul said.

“This will be the strongest border security bill ever passed by the Congress. We intend to get that bill passed next week,” added McCaul. “For too long we just haven’t had the political will to get that done. I feel confident that we will get this done.”

McCaul said the committee asked McSally what she wanted to see in the bill.
After her discussions with ranchers, one of the main objectives the ranchers wanted to have fulfilled is to have the Border Patrol actually patrol the border. She explained that she offered an amendment to the bill that would put the Border Patrol on the border.

“We want to increase the number of forward operating bases and have a rapid reaction capability. Ideally, the illegal activity will be detected well south of the border, so that can be deterred or interpreted as close to the border as possible,” McSally said.

Eyes in the sky are part of the technology that she wants to see used so that traffickers do not make it further inland, creating dangers that local law enforcement officer have to face. The committee wants to ensure that the Border Patrol has the necessary equipment to do their jobs.

What the Tea-Publican Congress is actually proposing is to militarize the border with Mexico, spending a billion dollars a year for the next 10 years, and setting an impossible metric of “100 percent operational control” before they will even consider an immigration reform bill. The majority of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. actually came here legally and overstayed their visas. Militarizing the border with Mexico will do nothing to address this problem. These Tea-Publicans are not serious about immigration reform.

Should this misbegotten bill reach the desk of President Obama, he will veto it. This is nothing more than an opportunity for the nativist base of the GOP to vent its hatred towards people for breathing while brown. More of the same John McCain 3.0 “build the dang fence!” from 2010.

The Herald provides a summary of the bill:

Secure Our Borders First Act

The Secure Our Borders First Act requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to achieve 100 percent operational control of high traffic areas of the southwest border in two years — and the entire southwest border in five years — and establishes a commission to independently verify that the border is secure.

The legislation enforces penalties on DHS political appointees if the administration does not meet the terms of the bill.

Additionally, the bill provides sector-by-sector analysis of threats and needs on the border and attaches to that the resources necessary to gain operational control. This includes the allocation of technology capabilities in each sector along the southern border, the construction and replacement of fencing and access roads, and additional flight hours.

The legislation also bolsters border security by providing Border Patrol agents access to federal lands, granting flexibility to Customs and Border Protection to relocate resources, fully funding the National Guard on the border and increasing grants funding for local law enforcement agencies who assist in securing the border.

— Congressional Committee on Homeland Security