Senate Rejects Rand Paul’s Border-Security Amendment

Senate Rejects Rand Paul’s Border-Security Amendment

The Senate on Wednesday voted 61–37 to table an amendment to the immigration-reform bill that would have significantly strengthened the bill’s border-security and enforcement requirements. The so-called Trust but Verify amendment, offered by Senator Rand Paul (R., Ky.), would have given Congress, and not the Department of Homeland Security, the ultimate authority to determine if the border is effectively secure. It also included enhanced security measures, such as requiring a double-layer fence to be completed within five years, as well as a number of other triggers that must be implemented before illegal immigrants could be awarded legal status. “We desperately need immigration reform—but part of fixing the system is fixing our broken borders,” Paul said before the vote.