Obama, in a statement, welcomed the passage of the bill after the US Senate came back from its summer recess for a rare special session yesterday morning to approve it by a voice vote. Only two senators attended the short session: Democrats Ben Cardin and Charles Schumer.
Under Senate rules, only two members must be present if legislation is unanimously agreed to by all others. The House of Representatives had passed the bill early this week.
To offset the emergency border spending, the proposal would hike fees assessed on particular companies that exploit two categories of visas. Firms with more than 50 employees and more than 50 percent of their employees on H-1B work visas would be affected.
"A handful of foreign-controlled companies that operate in the US, such as Wipro, Tata, Infosys and Satyam—rely on H1B and L visas to import foreign workers to the US.
The Senate Democrats' border security proposal would increase the visa fees paid by these companies by roughly USD 2,000 per visa application," said Senator Claire McCaskill.
Obama said today's action by Congress answers his call to bolster the essential work of federal law enforcement officials and improve their ability to partner with state, local, and tribal law enforcement.
"The resources made available through this legislation will build upon our successful efforts to protect communities along the Southwest border and across the country. This new law will also strengthen our partnership with Mexico in targeting the gangs and criminal organisations that operate on both sides of the shared border," Obama said.
"So these steps will make an important difference as my administration continues to work with Congress toward bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform to secure our borders, and restore responsibility and accountability to our broken immigration system," he said.
The White House said the Administration has secured USD 600 million in supplemental funds which will be utilized to enhance technology at the border, share information and support with state, local, and tribal law enforcement, and increase Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security presence and law enforcement activities at the border, to include increased agents, investigators, and prosecutors, as part of a multi-layered effort to target illicit networks trafficking in people, drugs, illegal weapons, and money.
"The supplemental is fully offset by cancelling USD 100 million from the SBInet program within DHS and from a temporary increase to the fraud prevention and detection fees for some employers seeking high skilled foreign workers," it said.
Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, said: "This morning, the Senate passed a USD 600 million border security package that will help law enforcement officials in the fight against smuggling and other criminal activities in the border area. But I continue to believe that increased enforcement along our borders is only one part of a sound, comprehensive solution to fix our broken immigration system, and more work remains to achieve that ultimate goal."
Republican leader, Senator John McCain applauded the USD 600 million in additional funding for the protection of the US-Mexico border, but demanded that the Democrats need to do more to secure the border.
The bill includes money for 1,500 new border personnel, a pair of unmanned drones and military-style bases along the border. It would be paid for mostly by hiking fees on foreign companies that use US visa programmes to import lower-cost labor from countries like India.
In a statement on Tuesday, the US India Business Council –that represents American companies doing business in India – had urged the Congress and the Obama Administration to resist from taking such "draconian"measures.
"We urge the Congress and the Obama Administration to amend this new funding method for border security and any policies that would harm America's economic interest and undermine the burgeoning economic, trade and strategic relationship with India," said Ron Somers, president USIBC, an affiliate of the US Chamber of Commerce.
"It is unfortunate that the Congress passed a Bill that not only links India to border security with Mexico, but also does not take into account the terrible economic impact this will have for the United States," Somers said.
He said the new Bill imposes substantial and discriminatory fee increases on global information services companies that utilize temporary, non-immigrant visas (H-1 and L-1) to bring in skilled professionals to serve American companies. "USIBC hopes amendments will excise these harmful provisions," Somers said.
"The value and expertise American companies receive from these services firms strengthen their global competitiveness and help to fuel innovation at home. Moreover, many companies, confronted with higher costs due to the legislation, will be an incentive to move more jobs and businesses offshore," he said