ABSTRACT
Introduction In the half-decade since nineteen foreign-born men executed the dramatic and deadly terror attacks of September 11, 2001, U.S. immigration policy mainly has been debated in terms of national security and controlling the U.S.–Mexican border. While the House and Senate took broadly different approaches to immigration reform during the 109th Congress, both chambers agreed on the need to increase border enforcement, with the House voting to add 700 miles of new U.S.–Mexico border fencing, and the Senate voting to add 370 miles of fencing and to construct a high-tech “virtual fence” along longer stretches of the border. President Bush’s May 2006 call to place National Guard troops on the border was also embraced by all sides in the debate, and an amendment endorsing their deployment was passed by unanimous consent on the Senate floor. Ultimately, when House and Senate members were unable to agree on anything else as the 109th Congress drew to a close, they still managed to pass the Secure Fence Act, authorizing 700 miles of fencing and other border infrastructure.
