Understandably, over the last few months Border Patrol employees have been absorbed in preparing for austere pay/work-cuts stemming from the dual banes of the sequester and CBP’s egregious mismanagement of funds. However, during this same period another political effort has been moving forward that would arguably have as much impact to the Border Patrol and America’s future. Specifically, there has been much forward movement with a Senate initiated “Comprehensive Immigration Reform” package. A brief review of the actions of the so-called “Gang of Eight” (comprised of four Republican and four Democratic Senators) indicates that while those Senators have been making efforts to grease whatever legislation does come out of their coalition, they have not been sharing this information with their fellow Senators or the American people.
To express this concern, a collection of Republican Senators from the Senate Judiciary Committee have requested that the Gang of Eight be more open with their immigration reform plans, have a greater number of hearings relating to the impact of their legislation, and share the entirety of the immigration reform with the American people.