KEY VOTE: "NO" on Cornyn RESULTS Amendment

"NO" on Cornyn RESULTS Amendment

Next week, the Senate could vote on the Cornyn RESULTS Amendment to the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act (S. 744), also known as the Gang of Eight's bill. Properly understood, it should be called "NO-RESULTS" because it fails to solve the enforcement problems in the underlying bill.

According to the Heritage Foundation, the amendment does not guarantee any results before the current illegal immigrants transition to Registered Provisional Immigrant (RPI) status, i.e., receive amnesty:

None of these border security conditions that the GAO and DHS would certify (and do we really think they would be objective?) has to be fulfilled before DHS provides RPI status (essentially amnesty) to the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants. The conditions that must be certified regarding border security relate only to adjustment of the status of RPI aliens to permanent residency status. In other words, aliens will still be granted amnesty before the border is secured; they just can't be upgraded to permanent status.

Sen. Cornyn's criticism of the Gang of Eight's bill (Dallas Morning News, 6/5) is fitting of his amendment:

For starters, its border-security triggers are talking points disguised as policy: Legalization of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States would be activated by meaningless promises rather than concrete results. Haven't we heard enough of that from Washington?

Remember, the Secretary of Homeland Security has often said our borders "have never been more secure." Illegal immigration undermines our nation's ability to protect its borders and preserve its sovereignty - a legalization-first approach (i.e, amnesty) will only make the problem worse. As Heritage explains, the Gang of Eight's legalization-first approach, unchanged by the Cornyn Amendment, would actually drive up the cost of securing the border because it "creates an incentive for illegal border crossings and overstays."

Finally, if adopted, multiple Senators have indicated the amendment would serve as political cover for them to justify their support for the Gang of Eight's amnesty.

Heritage Action opposes the Cornyn RESULTS Amendment and will include it as a key vote on our legislative scorecard.

Related:

Heritage Action Scorecard
Heritage: Getting No RESULTS
Key Vote: "NO" on Senate Amnesty Bill
Heritage Action: Amnesty Cannot Be Fixed