WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bob Corker today cosponsored the Secure and Succeed Act, bringing its cosponsors to 10. The Secure and Succeed Act, which provides legal certainty for undocumented children brought to the United States by their parents and prevents others from falling into the same legal limbo in the future, is also sponsored by Senators Chuck Grassley, John Cornyn, Thom Tillis, David Perdue, James Lankford, Tom Cotton, Joni Ernst, Johnny Isakson and Lamar Alexander.
The Secure and Succeed Act, the only immigration proposal to be supported by the President , provides a generous opportunity for approximately 1.8 million DACA or DACA-eligible immigrants to earn citizenship while strengthening our nation’s border security and enforcement measures to reduce illegal immigration.
“This week, we have a real opportunity to deliver real certainty to those brought to our nation illegally as children, and to finally bring about real border security needed to protect our country. I’m grateful for Senator Corker’s support of the Secure and Succeed Act. It is the only Senate plan that accomplishes these goals and can actually be signed into law. Our goal is not to just pass a bill and call it a day; it’s to pass a compassionate and reasonable law that addresses DACA and prevents the same legal limbo in the future,” Grassley said.
“The immigration challenges facing our nation have been left unaddressed for far too long, and it is clear to me that the best opportunity for a result – for a bill to become law – is through the Secure and Succeed Act, which resolves the DACA issue and takes important steps to strengthen border security. I appreciate the bill sponsors agreeing to work with us through a few jurisdictional issues and am glad to support this legislation. It is my hope that my colleagues will join me in moving to a debate so that members who wish to make improvements can do so through the amendment process,” Corker said.
The legislation appropriates $25 billion for real border security such as physical and virtual fencing, radar and other technologies. It also provides for additional personnel for border control and ends key loopholes in current law that allow dangerous criminals to enter our country. The legislation prospectively limits family-based immigration to the nuclear family and reallocates the Diversity Visa lottery. Their proposal generously grandfathers all pending family-based visa applications in order to reward those who chose to follow the law and immigrate legally. The allotment for the Diversity Visa lottery will be reallocated to reduce this backlog and the employment-based visa backlog.
The Secure and Succeed Act includes the four reform pillars agreed to during a bipartisan meeting with congressional leaders and President Trump in January: legal status for DACA recipients; increased border security; an end chain to migration; and an end to the diversity visa lottery.