Senator Cruz isn鈥檛 finished: Another of his amendments would forestall illegal immigrants from obtaining even legal status (let alone citizenship) until the border is deemed secure, as defined by the Senate鈥檚 most conservative wing.
That would take at least three years.
The Cruz amendment envisions tripling the number of border security agents, completing a fence along a long swath of the 2,000-mile US-Mexico border, quadrupling the level of border security materiel (such as drones, helicopters, cameras, and the like), requiring a biometric screening system (meaning iris or fingerprint scans at all major ports of entry) 鈥� all leading to 鈥�100 percent operational control鈥� of the border within three years.
If the Department of Homeland Security fails to meet those metrics, its budget would contract by 20 percent in the fourth year. That money would then be granted to border states to improve the security situation.
The Cruz security criteria are likely to cost more than the $4.5 billion designated for border security in the bipartisan reform bill. Cruz鈥檚 amendment does not offer any estimates of its cost.
