While Harry Reid (D-Nev.) was using the Democrat majority Thursday to shut down a Republican effort to toughen the immigration reform bill, Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) was using the Republican majority in the House to tout a fix for problems he has with the Senate bill.
"Unfortunately, the Senate bill actually weakens interior enforcement in many areas or is simply ineffectual," Goodlatte said at a hearing on legislation called the Strengthen and Fortify Enforcement Act, or the SAFE Act.
"The Senate bill allows aggravated felons who are currently subject to mandatory detention to be released in the care of advocacy organizations," said Goodlatte, chairman of the Judiciary Committee. "The Senate bill provides an unworkable framework for deporting gang members. The Senate bill directs DHS to ignore criminal convictions under state laws for crimes such as human smuggling, harboring, trafficking, and gang crimes when adjudicating applications for legalization."
As Thursday's hearing emphasized, the SAFE act would empower state and local law enforcement agencies to play an active role in the enforcement of immigration laws.
"One reason why our immigration system is broken today is because the present and past administrations have largely ignored the enforcement of our immigration laws," Goodlatte said. "If we want to avoid the mistakes of the past, we cannot allow the President to continue shutting down federal immigration enforcement efforts unilaterally. The SAFE Act will not permit that to happen."
The SAFE Act faces stiff resistance from Democrats and immigrant advocacy groups.
"The effect of this delegation of authority will be to create a patchwork of laws that will add more chaos, not more order, to our immigration system," Clarissa Martinez-De-Castro of the National Council of La Raza said at the hearing.
Earlier in the day, Reid's maneuver killed an amendment proposed by Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) to toughen enforcement metrics.
"As we read the details of the bill, it's clear that the approach taken is legalize first, enforce later," Grassley said. But by a 57-43 vote, Reid won approval of his move to "table" the amendment, effectively killing it before it could gather momentum.
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) had warned that by delaying legal status for illegal immigrants until after the tougher metrics had been met, the Grassley amendment would effectively tell them: "If you hide successfully from the police, then maybe five years from now (when border metrics might be met) you can stay here and get the right to work and the right to travel."
