"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

                                — From the sonnet “New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus, currently located at the Statue of Liberty museum.

On June 27, 2013, the Senate passed S, 744, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act, on a 68-34 vote. The provisions contained in it are a far cry from the sentiments expressed in the quote above, but do represent a compromise between them and the stricter demands for conditions to be met by the Republicans in order to achieve comprehensive immigration reform. A potential pathway to citizenship for nearly 11 million undocumented immigrants is included.

The key amendment making the passage of the bill possible on a somewhat bipartisan basis involves appropriating more than…