Obama to Sign $600 Million Border Security Bill Friday

The bill is paid for by raising fees on foreign-based personnel companies that use U.S. visa programs, including the popular H-1B program, to bring skilled workers to the United States. India says higher fees would discriminate against its companies and workers.

The bill comes on the heels of a fiercely debated new law in Arizona that directs law enforcement officers to be more aggressive in seeking out illegal immigrants.

Arizona Republican Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl called the legislation a start. But, in a statement, they said the bill fell short by not dramatically increasing the number of customs inspectors along the Arizona border and not funding a program that charges illegal immigrants with low-level crimes and requires them to spend time in jail.

It's taken the House and Senate several tries over the past months to agree on the contents of the bill and how it should be paid for. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Ariz., said that throughout this legislative back-and-forth she had worked "to make sure that Congress knows that we are fed up with the federal government's failure along the border." She said that with Senate action, "at least this time, they are listening to us."

Arizona has been at the epicenter of the border security debate since it passed a law directing law enforcement officers to be more aggressive in seeking out illegal immigrants. Although a federal judge has since struck down some of the law's major provisions, it remains a rallying cry for those who say Washington has lost control of the border.

Both the Obama administration and congressional Democrats say they are committed to more comprehensive immigration legislation, including steps to create a pathway to citizenship for the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants already in the country. But the issue has made little headway, pushed aside by other priorities such as health care and failing to gain bipartisan support in the Senate.

"Both moderate Democrats and Republicans said they wouldn't even consider comprehensive reform until we did something about the border," Schumer said. He said the bill "will clear the path for restarting the bipartisan discussions we absolutely need to have for restoring the rule of law to our entire immigration system."