The union representing 12,000 federal officers who issue immigration documents, has announced its opposition to the immigration bill now before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
"The legislation was written with special interests, producing a bill that makes the current system worse, not better," Kenneth Palinkas, president of the National Citizenship and Immigration Services Council, said in a statement.
The bill doesn't address the fact that customs officers are "pressured to rubber-stamp applications instead of conducting diligent case review and investigation," he said, adding that the bill would create "an almost insurmountable bureaucracy."
The officers union is joining forces with the 7,700-strong National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council, another union representing deportation agents, which also opposes the immigration bill on the grounds that it would weaken public safety,
The New York Times reports.
The one-two union punch against the immigration bill is expected to add new strength to committed opponents, led in the Senate by Alabama Republican Jeff Sessions.