FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, May 17, 2007

Isakson Optimistic Over Bipartisan Effort to Reach Compromise on Immigration
Says Final Bill Must Secure Borders First, Prohibit New Pathway to Citizenship

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) today expressed optimism over a bipartisan effort to reach a compromise on immigration legislation and again reiterated that any immigration reform bill must achieve two key principles at minimum: Require that the first step of comprehensive reform be to secure the U.S. borders and offer no new special pathway to citizenship for individuals who are in the United States illegally.

“The pressure is now on us. We have got to fix our broken borders. If Congress doesn’t appropriate the funds and the Secretary of Homeland Security doesn’t install the barriers, hire the agents, get the unmanned aerial vehicles in the sky or create a verifiable biometric identification card, there is no bill. This is a two-step process and the first step is to stop the problem,” Isakson said. “I am optimistic we will reach an agreement that can be the foundation for meaningful reform, security of our borders and respect for our immigration process.”

Comprehensive immigration legislation is in the final stages of being drafted and is expected to come to the Senate floor for debate next week. Isakson said he will reserve judgment on supporting the final bill until the debate is complete, but he said that at a minimum the bill must include his border security “trigger” prohibiting implementation of a temporary, probationary work permit program until the Department of Homeland Security certifies to the President and to the Congress that the border security provisions in the immigration legislation are fully funded and operational.

Isakson also said the bill must prohibit any new pathway to U.S. citizenship and must require illegal immigrants to return home and get at the back of the line to apply for citizenship just as everyone must do now.

During negotiations in crafting the legislation, Isakson has pushed his border security trigger that includes five specific provisions that must be in place before a guest worker program can begin:

• Manpower – authorizing a total of 18,000 full-time Border Patrol Agents.
• Detention beds – authorizing detention facilities with a total of 27,500 detention beds to end the practice of “catch and release.”
• Barriers – authorize additional barriers such as fences, roads or underground sensors along the entire U.S.-Mexico border.
• Unmanned Aerial Vehicles -- authorize funds to acquire and maintain a squadron of at least four unmanned aerial vehicles with high-tech sensors and satellite communication to allow coverage on the border by an unmanned vehicle 24 hours a day.
• Biometrically secure ID – establish a biometric secure identification card program so employers can instantly verify an immigrants’ status.

In May 2006, during debate in the Senate on immigration reform, Isakson introduced a similar trigger amendment that would have prohibited the implementation of any program granting legal status to those who have entered the country illegally until the Secretary of Homeland Security had certified to the President and to the Congress that the border security provisions in the immigration legislation were funded and operational. The Senate defeated the amendment on May 16, 2006, by a vote of 40 yeas to 55 nays, but Isakson has gained even more support for his border security trigger in the year since.          

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