There is an old saying about elections, who is voting is no as important as who is counting the votes. That election truism may also apply to the Gang of Eight immigration plan. According to the Democrats involved, Big mama, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano would have final say over whether the border has met the metrics for border security.
If Napolitano does not provide the green light for putting illegal immigrants on a pathway to citizenship--it will be delayed, but the chances of her saying no are very remote.
Sen. Charles Schumer (N.Y.), the lead Democratic sponsor of the bipartisan immigration reform framework unveiled this past week, said Napolitano should decide.
“What we’ve proposed is that the DHS secretary, whomever it is, will have final say on [whether] whatever metrics we proposes are met,” Schumer said. “We think those metrics will be quite objective.”
Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), the lead Republican sponsor of the framework, said the issue is under discussion within the Gang of Eight.
“We’re working on a lot of it,” he said.
But the idea of letting Napolitano, who plans to stay in the cabinet for President Obama’s second term, or a future secretary of Homeland Security make the final call on the border has sparked alarm among other Republicans.
“My constituents are not going to accept a Washington bureaucrat making a representation the border is secure when they know it’s not true. So that’s unacceptable,” said Senate Republican Whip John Cornyn, who represents Texas.When Marco Rubio announced the deal he assured people that the borders will be made secure as the before the illegal aliens will be given a path to citizenship. After all without securing the borders will will have the same problem every few years. However putting someone such as Janet Napolitano, who already believes the border is more secure than ever before, in charge of deciding whether the security metrics have been met is not acceptable.
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