The chances of the Mexican border being secure by the time immigration reform comes into effect are around 10,000 to 1, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz has asserted.
"It is a virtual certainty because the bill does not have meaningful metrics that actually have bite. It doesn't have consequence," the Texan said, according to
The Hill newspaper.
But Cruz failed to get through an amendment that would have tripled the number of border agents to 60,000 and quadrupled the number of cameras, sensors, drones, and helicopters along the border. It also would have created a double-layered border fence.
He told the Senate Judiciary Committee that if Las Vegas bookmakers were looking at the chances of beefed-up security being in place by the time reform is approved and ready to go, they would give 10,000 to 1 odds.
Cruz was unable to get support from GOP members of the Gang of Eight that has put forward reform measures, and his amendment went down, 13 votes to 5, in committee.
Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona, one of the Republican authors of the bill, said that Cruz's amendment would cost at least $30 billion.
"That's a substantial sum," he said, "We need improved border security. I think that if we look at this, it's just probably somewhere we can't go."
Flake added that the bill already provides 3,500 new customs agents in addition to other border security resources.
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