The Senate's immigration bill was officially introduced this week, but the Boston Marathon bombings and the subsequent manhunt for the perpetrators has delayed debate.
The identities of the bombers are now public; they are two young men originally from Chechnya -- immigrants. One Republican senator has suggested that this news should halt progress on the bill.
"Given the events of this week, it's important for us to understand the gaps and loopholes in our immigration system. While we don't yet know the immigration status of people who have terrorized the communities in Massachusetts, when we find out it will help shed light on the weaknesses of our system. How can individuals evade authority and plan such attacks on our soil?" Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa said on Friday at a hearing on immigration reform.
"How can we beef up security checks on people who wish to enter the United States?" Grassley continued. "How do we ensure that people who wish to do us harm are not eligible for benefits under the immigration laws, including this new bill before us?"
Grassley comments paint all immigrants with the same brush and play to the fears of many conservatives, despite the fact that domestic terrorism is a very real and more commonplace danger.
Supporters of immigration reform were quick to respond, noting that the younger of the bombers became an American citizen in 2011, and the fact that they were both in the country legally meant there were plenty of records and information about them that eased their identification. Undocumented suspects would have been much more difficult to track.
"In general, we're a safer country when law enforcement knows who is here, has their fingerprints, photos, etc., has conducted background checks and no longer needs to look at needles through haystacks," Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York said.
"Immigration reform will strengthen our nation's security by helping us identify exactly who has entered our country and who has left -- a basic function of government that our broken immigration system is incapable of accomplishing today," said Republican Sen. John McCain, who, along with Schumer is the main architect of the immigration bill.
Hopefully the situation in Boston will be resolved soon, but it's nice to see a bipartisan response to divisive and unproductive language.