Schumer: 'Illegal Immigration Will Be a Thing of the Past'

After the U.S. Senate voted to pass the motion to proceed to floor debate on the “Gang of Eight” immigration bill, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) claimed that this bill would solve illegal immigration and secure the border.

“Illegal immigration will be a thing of the past,” Schumer said on the Senate floor, celebrating the passage of the motion to proceed. 

Schumer complained in an impassioned and lengthy speech on the Senate floor that opponents saying the bill does not have border security “is not fair.” Schumer said giving billions of dollars to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will lead to increased border security, even if illegal immigrants are given amnesty first. He promised that assurances of future border security measures would be maintained. 

Nonetheless, Schumer admitted the bill “is not perfect.” He pleaded with other senators, “If you have a better idea” on how to secure the border “tell us.” Though Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Rand Paul (R-KY) have offered outlines of amendments that would improve the border security provisions in the bill, Schumer did not say he would support them.

Schumer said the Gang of Eight would not compromise by conditioning the path to citizenship on “factors that may not ever happen” like border security. He complained that border security should not be used as a “bargaining chip.”

And while Schumer claims the bill fixes enforcement issues, he also dismissed border security as not a pressing concern.

“We don’t have a problem whereby these people [illegal immigrants] are besieging us with terrorist acts,” Schumer said.

Schumer also said he has been to the border with other Gang of Eight senators and said, “it’s huge.”