Obama to sign $600M border security bill on Friday [View All]

[The Northerner]

WASHINGTON — Determined to show a commitment to stopping the flow of illegal immigrants, the Senate convened a special session on Thursday and passed a $600 million bill to put more agents and equipment along the Mexican border.

The voice vote in the nearly empty Senate chamber sends the legislation to President Barack Obama, who planned to sign it into law on Friday. Obama had urged Congress to channel more money toward border security amid complaints from states besieged by undocumented immigrants and illegal drug trafficking.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., the chief sponsor, said the measure would provide Obama and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano "with the boots on the ground and the resources necessary to combat the crime and violence."

Obama said the bill would help protect communities along the Southwest border and across the country.

"And this new law will also strengthen our partnership with Mexico in targeting the gangs and criminal organizations that operate on both sides of our shared border," he said in a statement.

House Democrats had also called a special session, summoning lawmakers back from their summer break on Tuesday to pass the border security bill and a $26 billion aid bill to keep teachers and other public workers from being laid off. Both issues — jobs and border security — are among those expected to be on voters' minds when they go to the polls in November.

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