Hagel co-sponsored the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006. He supported the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 and, with Senator Bob Menendez proposed an amendment to allow immigration authorities to consider family-unification petitions submitted by people for an additional two years, which would have allowed approximately estimated 833,000 additional individuals to seek permanent residency. The proposal received 51 votes but was defeated by a procedural maneuver. The bill failed to pass. Hagel voted in favor of the Secure Fence Act of 2006, which aimed to build a double fence along the Mexico–United States border and appropriated $1.2 billion for the fence and a systematic surveillance system.