By Erin Kelly and Dan Nowicki | Gannett Washington Bureau
Supporters of a sweeping immigration reform bill reached a tentative deal today to super-size the bill’s border security provisions by doubling the number of Border Patrol agents to 40,000, building 700 miles of fencing along the Southwest border, and increasing aerial drones and surveillance equipment used to detect illegal border crossings.
The so-called “border surge” amendment, crafted by Republican Sens. Bob Corker of Tennessee and John Hoeven of North Dakota in consultation with the authors of the main bill, would spend roughly $30 billion just to hire the additional Border Patrol agents, Senate aides said.
The border security requirements would have to be met before undocumented immigrants could move from a provisional legal status to earn “green cards” that make them legal permanent residents. However, some farm workers and young immigrants brought to the United States as children would not have to wait for the border requirements to be met. The larger bill already offers them an expedited pathway to citizenship.
