Washington, DC (June 28, 2007) - The National Commander of The American Legion called today’s collapse of the amnesty bill in the U.S. Senate “a victory for the American people.”

The Senate’s 46-53 vote to limit debate on the bill essentially killed any attempt to reform immigration until after the 2008 elections, according to the Associated Press.

“It is unconscionable that six years after the worst terrorist attack in history, America’s borders are still not secure,” National Commander Paul A. Morin said. “However, awarding amnesty to foreigners who have broken the law is not and will never be the way to make America more secure.”

While The American Legion strongly opposed President Bush’s proposal to grant amnesty to illegal aliens, the nation’s largest veterans organization has repeatedly called upon the administration to construct security fences, hire more border patrol agents, invest in the necessary technology to protect the borders and search cargo entering U.S. ports.

“Some of the terrorists who plotted to murder Americans at Fort Dix fit the definition of what many call ‘undocumented workers.’ They are illegal aliens and that is the term I will continue to use,” Morin said. “The American Legion is willing to work with our leaders in reforming immigration, but there can be no reform until our borders and ports are secure.”

Morin also pointed out that illegal aliens can attend many state universities at lower tuition rates than Americans who are not state residents, a benefit not even offered to many of America’s veterans and military members.

A Heritage Foundation study estimates that a typical illegal alien costs taxpayers $1.2 million in lifetime benefits and the total cost of the amnesty proposal would have been $2.6 trillion. “American taxpayers fund many of the health care, education and other public service benefits taken for granted by illegal aliens who pay no income tax,” Morin said.