WASHINGTON - Congressional Republicans are drafting legislation that would require the federal government to develop a plan to add more fencing, sensors, agents and even drones to stop every illegal entry into the United States.The legislative effort offers another example of how a more conservative Congress has steered the immigration debate away from the Obama administration's two-pronged push for reforms and improved border security and toward a focus on strict enforcement of immigration laws.
In December, a lame-duck House controlled by Democrats passed the DREAM Act, a reform that would have created a path to citizenship for some young illegal immigrants in the U.S., but it was narrowly defeated in the Senate.
The Democrats' Senate majority means the latest legislation is unlikely to pass, but the goal may be more political. By continuing to spearhead such measures, Republicans, who feel they are in agreement with most voters, hope to force Democrats to take a position on immigration issues in advance of the 2012 campaign.
The change in tone of the debate also comes as census data show that Latinos comprise the fastest-growing bloc of voters, potentially a complicating factor for Republican strategists.
The number of Hispanic voters is increasing most in states that in 2010 gained congressional seats and Electoral College votes, the Pew Hispanic Center said. Florida and Nevada, two battleground states in recent presidential elections, gained seats with Latinos as a growing share of voters.
gay hopes dashed
U.S. citizens will not be able to obtain immigration benefits for same-sex spouses who are foreign, federal authorities announced Wednesday, dashing the hopes of gay-marriage advocates who had thought the Obama administration had handed them a victory this week.
The Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services resumed its practice Wednesday of automatically rejecting applications from same-sex couples, after the agency had been putting such applications on hold for more than a week.
Gay rights groups have long demanded that same-sex couples be given the same rights as heterosexuals to sponsor their foreign national spouses for green cards and obtain other immigration benefits. They are barred, however, under the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage for the purposes of federal benefits as exclusively between a man and a woman.
Last month, the Obama administration announced that it no longer thought the statute was constitutional but said the law would remain in place unless repealed by Congress or invalidated by the courts.
The Washington Post
GOP lawmakers drafting legislation to stop every illegal entry into the US
