Senate Passes Amendment to Halt Mexican Trucks on U.S. Highways

Washington DC - The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) congratulated Senators Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) for sponsoring an amendment to the Transportation Appropriations bill that cuts-off funding for a program that would have allowed hundreds of Mexican trucks to haul cargo on U.S. highways. The amendment was approved Tuesday by a 75 to 23 margin.

The program, promoted by the Bush Administration, would have cost many Americans their jobs and endangered motorists on our interstate highways because of laxer safety standards for Mexican trucks. The Mexican trucking program would also have posed a threat to homeland security, compounding the already difficult task of inspecting cargo entering the U.S. Fittingly, the vote on the amendment took place on the sixth anniversary of 9/11.

"FAIR joins everyone who is concerned about protecting the jobs of American workers, protecting the safety of people who drive on our highways, and protecting the security of our nation, in congratulating Sen. Dorgan for putting these interests ahead of the desire of large corporations to cut their trucking costs," said Dan Stein, president of FAIR. "It seems it is finally dawning on members of Congress that the American people believe there are important national interests that must take precedence over the desire of some to save a buck."

The overwhelming approval of this amendment, combined with the support of organized labor, is a hopeful indication that a new coalition that supports border and immigration enforcement may be developing. "People are becoming aware that ill-conceived trade policies and unenforced immigration policies are a threat to national security and to our embattled middle class," Stein noted. "Whether by default - because we do not enforce laws against illegal immigration - or by design, such as policies that open our highways to foreign truckers, there are actual American workers and their families who pay a heavy price for some businesses' insatiable thirst for lower cost labor.

"Likewise, whether we have people and goods moving across our borders illegally, or whether we institute policies that allow people and goods to enter with little or no inspection, the consequence is the same. America's homeland security is compromised," declared Stein.

The same principles that were applied to the decision of Congress not to allow Mexican trucks to haul good across the U.S., must be applied to our border policies in general. "The basic litmus test for determining immigration policies should be, Will American workers be harmed? Will public safety be compromised? Will homeland security be put at risk? If the answers to any of these questions is yes, then the policies need to be reconsidered," concluded Stein.