Politico
April 19, 2013

Democrats find much to like in immigration bill
By CARRIE BUDOFF BROWN | 4/19/13 5:16 AM EDT
The Senate’s Gang of Eight delivered an immigration overhaul bill this week that was far more generous to their constituencies than Democrats and Hispanic activists expected.
The pre-bill marketing campaign — driven by leaks that seemed to come from Republican negotiators — focused on stringent new border-control measures and a long, difficult path to citizenship. The goal was to minimize conservative opposition by creating a first impression of the bill as a tough solution to the country’s illegal immigration problem.

But when Democrats got a look at the 844-page measure, they discovered that their negotiators extracted more concessions than they thought possible. Those include an expansive version of the DREAM Act and subtle but meaningful tradeoffs on all the major pieces of the system, from family reunification to legalization and border security.
(PODCAST: Immigration's road ahead (13:39))
The compromises raise a potential stumbling block for the bill as it starts what could be an arduous process through Congress. Conservatives could balk at signing on to something that has the stamp of approval from liberal lawmakers and progressive groups. And liberals may have a hard time accepting something that Republicans may argue is a clear-cut victory for them.
So far, negotiators seem to have quieted dissension on both sides. But that could change as lawmakers and activists give the bill a close look — and assess the reactions of the other side.
Democrats are reluctant to sound too positive, fearing that would scare away Republicans. Their official response to the bill has been muted, with one press release after another calling it a starting point that must be improved.


(CARTOONS: Wuerker on immigration)


Yet that description, while an accurate reflection of their political strategy heading into the debate, understates the extent to which Democrats believe their side made off with more policy victories than it could’ve predicted.


(Also on POLITICO: Gang of Eight rolls dice)


It might just be that reformers’ perspective skewed. The last major overhaul bill, in 2007, contained almost nothing for them to like. Their expectations could be low after weeks of media leaks that put a conservative spin on the legislation. Senate Democratic aides had to repeatedly urge reformers to be patient, saying the measure wasn’t as one-sided as it seemed.


But the early favorable reaction from Democrats underscores how the shifting politics of immigration and major demographic change penetrated the Gang of Eight’s negotiations, producing a more balanced approach than the reform efforts of the past decade.
“I must admit, I was impressed,” Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) said Thursday after receiving a briefing with other members of the Senate Democratic Caucus. “You get a sense, and it looks like people seem to be responding very favorably.”


Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), a leader of the gang, emerged from the hourlong session with a bold prediction: “We will have the overwhelming majority of Democrats for the bill.”
Such declarations aren’t what immigration reform proponents want their side to promote.
(PHOTOS: At a glance: The Senate immigration deal)
They assume that if Republicans know that Democrats support the bill and are generally pleased with it, then they won’t give it a chance. Or they’ll stop believing Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), another member of the gang, when he describes the bill as containing “the toughest border security and enforcement measures in U.S. history.”
The gang’s press conference unveiling the bill Thursday planted seeds of doubt.
Some conservatives scoffed at Republican senators for standing alongside Schumer as he invoked the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), saying “our work picks up where he left off.” Kennedy led the failed efforts in 2006 and 2007 to overhaul the system.
“Gang of 8ers Schumer & McCain hailing Teddy Kennedy as driving spirit of amnesty bill,” conservative pundit Michelle Malkin posted on Twitter. “Rubio still calling it ‘conservative’ reform. #wakeup.”

Immigrant advocates don’t want to leave the wrong impression: They find many elements of the bill deeply objectionable.
The Gang of Eight agreed to include the 10-point border security plan that Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) proposed several years ago with then-Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), who was one of the most conservative in the chamber, and provide up to $6.5 billion to fund it.

Republicans succeeded in making the path to legalization contingent upon the government meeting border security benchmarks, prohibiting undocumented immigrants from accessing federal benefits even as they pay taxes, blocking a provision to allow foreign spouses of same-sex couples to apply for visas, and creating a temporary worker program.


But in return, Democrats got what Mary Giovagnoli, a former Kennedy immigration aide and director of the Immigration Policy Center, called an “extremely generous legalization program.”


Advocates don’t like the 10-year waiting period for legal permanent status or the provision that prevents immigrants who entered the country after Dec. 31, 2011, from being eligible for legalization. Democratic negotiators sought a cut-off date of at least Dec. 31, 2012.

But the $2,000 in fines are much lower than the 2006 and 2007 bills. The employment requirements are more flexible than expected. And border-security requirements aren’t as arbitrary as immigrant advocates expected, allaying fears that they could be used to block the path to citizenship.


Immigrants who have already been deported may apply for legal status from the outside the U.S. if their spouses or children are citizens or green-card holders — a significant concession to advocates upset about hundreds of thousands of deportations on President Barack Obama’s watch. Immigrants barred from gaining the provisional legal status because of a criminal record from long-ago offenses can seek a waiver.


The bill contains a far more expansive version of the DREAM Act than Congress has ever considered. Undocumented immigrants who were brought to the country as children would have to wait only five years to receive a green card, and they could immediately apply for citizenship.


By contrast, a 2010 bill that nearly passed the Senate included a 16-year path to citizenship and barred anyone older than 30 from applying. There is no age cap in the Gang of Eight bill.


Immigrant advocates vow a major fight over the elimination of visa categories that allow the adult children and siblings of U.S. citizens and green-card holders to migrate to the country.


But Democrats did secure some noteworthy compromises.


The backlog in visa applications would be cleared out in 10 years rather than the estimated 23 years.


The bill eliminates a distinction between green-card holders and citizens, who have been able to unite more quickly with immediate family members because those visas are not subject to caps. Green-card holders would be put on the same footing.
“This is really meaningful over time, and this is a big tradeoff,” said Doris Meissner, the former commissioner of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service in the Clinton administration and a senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute.


Immigrant advocates met with Democratic architects of the bill Wednesday, and some appeared alongside them at the press conference Thursday.
Schumer said their reaction in private has been “very positive, mindful of the fact that they didn’t get everything they wanted. A few said, push more and push more.”
But the senator said he expected them to fight for the bill.


“I don’t think you have to ask them,” Schumer said. “They want to go out and fight for it.”
Manu Raju contributed to this report

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