Obama to sign border security bill

Ignoring India's concerns on raising of certain category of work visa fee, the White House on Thursday said President Barack Obama would sign into law a comprehensive plan to secure the Southwest border, including $600 million in supplemental funds for enhanced border protection and law enforcement activities.

Obama himself welcomed the passage of the border security bill to secure the US-Mexico border through a $600 million fund; most of which would be raised by increasing the H-1B and L-1 visa fee for Indian companies, a move which has been greatly resented by Indian and US companies.

"Today's action by Congress answers my call to bolster the essential work of federal law enforcement officials and improve their ability to partner with state, local, and tribal law enforcement," Obama said in a statement.

"The resources made available through this legislation will build upon our successful efforts to protect communities along the Southwest border and across the country," Obama said in a statement hours after the US Senate passed the bill with unanimous consent.

This new law will also strengthen our partnership with Mexico in targeting the gangs and criminal organisations that operate on both sides of the shared border.

"So these steps will make an important difference as my administration continues to work with Congress toward bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform to secure our borders, and restore responsibility and accountability to our broken immigration system," Obama said.

The lengthy statement by Obama, however, had no reference to the concerns raised by India and companies of India and the US.

The White House said the administration has secured $600 million in supplemental funds which will be utilized to enhance technology at the border, share information and support with state, local, and tribal law enforcement, and increase DOJ and DHS presence and law enforcement activities at the border, to include increased agents, investigators, and prosecutors, as part of a multi-layered effort to target illicit networks trafficking in people, drugs, illegal weapons and money.

"The supplemental is fully offset by cancelling $100 million from the SBInet program within DHS and from a temporary increase to the fraud prevention and detection fees for some employers seeking high skilled foreign workers," it said.