US Immigration Reform a Million Dollar Business for Defense Firms

The Immigration Reform Bill, approved in the United States Senate, will mean millions of dollars in federal contracts for high technological and defense production companies.

If it becomes law, the proposal that was approved in the Senate last week will involve the purchase of various remote controlled airplanes, meaning drones, 15 Blackhawk helicopters that cost about $17 million apiece, night vision devices and airborne radar, among other types of equipment.

The majority of the costs, around $38 billion, are included in the border security amendment funded by the Republican senators Bob Corker and John Hoeven, who call for the strengthening of the border with Mexico.

Another $8 billion will be allocated for the payment of salaries and other collateral expenditures related to the hiring of the 20,000 new Border Patrol Agents who will be employed upon the bill’s approval.

The plans call for the establishment of 87 watchtowers in the states of California, Arizona and Texas, equipped with radar and infrared cameras of the latest technology, designed to improve the undocumented migrant detection system, where the companies Lockheed Martin and Raytheon are the favorites for taking on the contracts.

In addition, the legislation includes $22 billion in funds for discretionary spending allocated for an electronic worker verification system and a review of the visa programs, as well as more money for the courts that handle immigration cases.

However, the majority of these planned figures in the immigration reform bill that is still awaiting approval in the House of Representatives must be subsequently passed by Congress, which may never happen, as was estimated by the newspaper The Hill this past Tuesday.

Democratic Senator Charles Schumer, member of the bipartisan panel that drafted the language that was approved by the Senate 68 votes to 32, believes that the House of Representatives will approve the project by the end of the year, despite the opposition to the bill in the legislative body.