Sen. Jeff Session warned his colleagues on Monday that they are preparing to vote on an amended immigration bill that nobody has read.
The Alabama Republican accused Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of rushing to add the border-security amendment to the rest of the roughly 1,200-page bill in order to advance the legislation late Monday afternoon,
reports Fox News.
"The majority leader's motion will stifle amendments and accelerate the vote on final passage before anyone has vetted the modified legislation," Sessions said in a statement.
Reid needs at least 60 votes on the so-called Border Surge Amendment — proposed last week by Republican Sens. Bob Corker of Tennessee and John Hoeven of North Dakota — to advance the bill towards final passage.
The amendment, which included 70,000 additional border agents and 700 more miles of border fencing, was aimed at gaining the support of conservatives who maintain the influx of illegal immigrants remains a problem.
The bipartisan Senate bill provides a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million illegal immigrants already in the country.
Corker issued a statement following Session's warning: "I've seen reports of a '1,200-page bill' no one has read or had time to read. To be clear, the tough border and interior enforcement provisions that Sen. Hoeven and I offered on Friday make up 119 pages added to the 1,100 pages that have been public since May."
If the bill passes the Senate, it faces an uncertain future in the House. Speaker John Boehner has said he would not bring it to the floor without the backing of the majority of House Republicans.
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