Alexander, Isakson Join Secure and Succeed Act
WASHINGTON – U.S.
Senators Lamar Alexander and Johnny Isakson today cosponsored the Secure and
Succeed Act, which provides legal certainty for undocumented children
brought to the United States by their parents and preventing others from
falling into the same legal limbo in the future. The Secure and Succeed Act,
the only immigration proposal to be supported
by the President, provides a generous opportunity for approximately 1.8
million DACA or DACA-eligible immigrants to earn citizenship while
strengthening our nation’s border security and enforcement measures to reduce
illegal immigration.
“For many weeks now, we’ve been working to negotiate a compromise that is compassionate, reasonable and capable of becoming law. Our goal is not to just pass a bill, it’s to pass a law that can bring about real certainty for those illegally brought here through no fault of their own and take important steps to protect the country. This is the only Senate plan that has any chance of actually becoming law and providing those protections. I’m grateful to have Senators Alexander and Isakson join us in this effort. They are both genuine leaders known for their commitment to getting real results, and that’s what we are working to accomplish,” Grassley said.
“President Trump has shown leadership by proposing a result on DACA and improving border security. My goal is to get a result on both of these issues, so I will cosponsor and vote for Senator Grassley's amendment implementing the president’s proposal,” Alexander said.
“We have a real opportunity to secure our borders and address some of the issues in our immigration system. I’m committed to continuing to work toward real solutions, and this legislation will help meet many of these goals,” Isakson said.
The
Secure and Succeed Act is also cosponsored by Senators Chuck Grassley,
John Cornyn, Thom Tillis, David Perdue, James Lankford, Tom Cotton and Joni
Ernst.
The
legislation appropriates $25 billion for real border security such as physical
and virtual fencing, radar and other technologies. It also provides for
additional personnel for border control and ends key loopholes in current law
that allow dangerous criminals to enter our country. The legislation
prospectively limits family-based immigration to the nuclear family and
reallocates the Diversity Visa lottery. Their proposal generously grandfathers
all pending family-based visa applications in order to reward those who chose
to follow the law and immigrate legally. The allotment for the Diversity Visa
lottery will be reallocated to reduce this backlog and the employment-based
visa backlog.
The
Secure and Succeed Act includes the four reform pillars agreed to during
a bipartisan meeting with congressional leaders and President Trump in January:
legal status for DACA recipients; increased border security; an end chain to
migration; and an end to the diversity visa lottery.
For
more on the Secure and Succeed Act, see the Summary
and Legislative
Text.
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