Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said senators have so far managed to block his proposal to boost enforcement of immigration laws, a move that had him fuming on the Senate floor Thursday afternoon.
“I’m frustrated about it,” Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said in a Thursday floor speech. “I’ve been pushing this for years. Even the Gang of Eight bill had it in there.”
Sessions has been pushing for an amendment to the Federal Aviation Administration authorization bill that would give airports two years to develop systems for implementing a biometric exit system, a policy long-mandated by Congress in order to track people who overstay their visas. The proposal has bipartisan support, but Senate Democrats have held up a vote on the amendment, according to Sessions.
Department of Homeland Security officials admitted that they don’t actively track people who overstay their visas during a Senate hearing in January. A top Customs and Border Patrol official said it would be difficult to have a biometric exit system at airports without lengthening the amount of time passengers have to wait before boarding flights.
“It’s the placement of the technology and how you collect it to ensure that the person actually departed the United States,” testified John Wagner, a deputy assistant commissioner at CBP. “There’s no zone to do that.”
New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader-in-waiting, described the lack of a biometric exit system as a national security threat during a recent hearing. “The biometric exit system is still not off the ground and that is unfortunate, very unfortunate, because it is a matter of national security,” Schumer said in January.
Still, the Senate couldn’t agree to include the measure among a package of amendments to the FAA bill, which had Sessions wondering who was in charge of the process.
“I’m getting tired of this,” Sessions said. “Who runs this place? Elected representatives or some high-paid lobbyists somewhere?”
