Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, all members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to their colleagues Tuesday detailing how S. 744, a.k.a. the Gang of Eight immigration bill, fails to secure the border, enforce the law, and improve legal immigration.

“In 1986, the American people were promised that, in exchange for granting legal status to illegal immigrants, the border would be secured and the law enforced,” the letter reads. “Washington broke these promises,” the letter continues, “Unfortunately, the so-called ‘Gang of Eight’ immigration bill, S.744, repeats these past mistakes.”

The letter then goes on to identify nine reasons why the letter’s signatories oppose the bill, as well as 28 amendments that could have made the bill stronger. The nine reasons these conservatives oppose S. 744 include:

1) It provides immediate legalization without securing the border

2) It rewards criminal aliens, absconders, and deportees and undermines law enforcement

3) It contains national security loopholes

4) It facilitates fraud in our immigration system

5) It creates no real penalties for illegal immigrants and rewards them with entitlements

6) It delays implementation of E-Verify for years

7) It does not fix the legal immigration system

8) The deal was struck before the mark-up even began

9) It rewards those who have broken our laws by offering a special path to citizenship

“We need immigration reform, but the American people deserve better than a 1,000-page bill that makes our immigration system more complex and less accountable without truly ensuring border security,” the letter concludes. “We want immigration reform to pass, but only if it actually fixes the broken system, rather than allowing the problems to grow and fester.”