DeMint to attach border fence language to financial bill

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) announced Thursday he will attach language to the financial reform bill that mandates that 700 miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border within one year.

The senator's amendment would need 60 votes to be attached to the unrelated legislation.

“We’ve had rhetoric and promises for four years without results," he said in a statement. "It’s time we completed the fence and secured our borders to protect American citizens."

The conservative senator's request comes at a time when immigration has climbed to the top of the agenda on Capitol Hill.

Because of a controversial new immigration law passed in Arizona, many lawmakers have demanded that Congress pass comprehensive immigration reform.

Senate Democrats unveiled a blueprint for legislation last week, but it's unclear when a bill will be brought to the floor.

Republicans have said that immigration reform cannot be implemented without first securing the southern border, which has seen several acts of violence in recent months. 

DeMint's office says the measure "follows through on the four-year-old promise made by Congress to secure the border under the Secure Fence Act of 2006."

According to the release, Department of Homeland Security staff has told the senator that only a fraction of the fence was completed. An earlier version of the amendment was scrapped last year.

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