Hoeven Has A Hard Time Defending Immigration Amendment

North Dakota Senator John Hoeven was on the Hugh Hewitt yesterday talking about his controversial amendment to the immigration bill. Hewitt had some tough questions for Hoeven about the amendment, and Hoeven didn’t have a lot of good answers.

You can read the full transcript here. This was an interesting exchange:

HOEVEN: I’d have to look back at the specs, but it’s, you know, I mean, it’s impressive fencing. It’s not the double layer you’re talking about, but it’s a significant barrier.
HEWITT: Now Sen. Hoeven, there aren’t any specs. This is my problem. I’ve read —
HOEVEN: No, see, there’s existing pedestrian fence on there, and so when we say pedestrian fence, it has a definition as to the fencing that’s already there. So —
HEWITT: But it doesn’t, it actually doesn’t. I’ve been through the law very carefully. I bring my lawyer’s, not my MBA to it, but I look at it as a Constitutional lawyer. They actually don’t have to do anything. In fact, I was going to ask you, what if they don’t turn in a strategy in 180 days? What’s the law’s penalty?
HOEVEN: They’d be breaking the law.
HEWITT: But what’s the penalty?
HOEVEN: Well, you’d obviously have to enforce the law, but I mean, it’s like, it would be like saying any law, what … they have to follow the law. They’re required to follow the law, and we would undertake an action to make sure that they do.

What Hewitt is pointing out is that the Hoeven/Corker amendment makes a lot of promises, but does little to enforce those promise ensuring that they actually, you know, happen.