Government Is To Make $600 Trillion Available For Border Control
American President Barrack Obama is expected to sign a bill today that will provide $600 billion in emergency funding to help secure America’s border with Mexico.
The bill had been passed with no problems on Tuesday by the House of Representatives. The senate invoked a rarely used procedure which meant members did not have to come back from their summer break to vote.
However Democrats Charles Schumer of New York and Ben Cardin of Maryland did return from their summer recess to give the chambers approval for the bill.
The border is known as one of the main drug running routs into the US and there has been growing sediment within the American public that not enough was being done to protect their border from this threat.
Immigration has also been a big political issue for many American voters and this measure is seen as a political attempt by both parties to show strength on the issue and sure up their borders. This comes in response to Arizona recently passing some tough illegal Immigration laws.
The democrats are gambling on the measure gaining the Latino vote for the up and coming November elections but this strategy does come with its own risks and some within their own party have criticised the move.
The funding will go towards two new unmanned surveillance planes, new and updated forward operating bases, new communications equipment and the employment of over 1,500 new enforcement agents.
Like most governments across the world the US authorities are under huge pressure not to increase their budget deficit. So the senate intends to pay for these developments by increasing the visa fees for companies that hire foreign works.
The costs per worker can vary between $320 to as much as $2,750, but these fees would only apply to firms that have over 50 foreign workers or have 50% of their work force on certain foreign visa’s.
Even though the bill passed smoothly through the American system there has been some opposition to the new legalisation. Many wanted a more comprehensive change in the immigration system and some call this nothing more than an election year stunt. They claim the American border will still let in over 11 million illegal immigrants this year alone.
However Obama defended the bill by saying it helped to,
“Answer my call to bolster the essential work of federal law enforcement officials and improve their ability to partner with state, local and tribal law enforcement.”
He went on to argue that the new resources will help to develop the relationship between the US ad Mexican government and it should make “an important difference” in immigration reform.
The republicans have often been accused of using the lack of reform as an excuse not to tackle the immigration problem but with these new developments the pressure is now on to change the system for the good of the country.
