By H. Nelson Goodson
May 22, 2013
Washington, D.C. - On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on an vote of 13-5 approved the bipartisan Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013 (S.744) with a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants living in the country.
The bill, which kept most of its amendments, including a key provision allowing for millions of undocumented immigrants and their children to apply for citizenship. The full Senate will begin hearing debate over S. 744 in June.
An amendment introduced by Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) denying citizenship for anyone who over stayed their visas, crossed the border into the U.S. Illegally and those who were deported was rejected by the committee. Sen. Cruz told the committee members that he believes that a path to citizenship in the bill will only attract future illegal immigration into the U.S. and the House of Representatives would reject S. 744 for allowing a path to citizenship.
A total of 48 Republican amendments were adopted by the Judiciary Committee.
Anti-immigrant groups were disappointed with Tuesday's passage of S. 744 and are claiming, if the bill is passed it will allow more than 50 million immigrants to legally enter the U.S., which will cost the U.S. 6.3 trillion in a 10-year period. None of the anti-immigrant groups claiming the exaggerated numbers justified their findings.
