By KATE NOCERA | 1/31/13 11:21 PM EST
politico.com


Complicating matters: Pryor, Landrieu and Baucus all are up for reelection in 2014. | AP Photos

While much of the attention for the success or failure of bipartisan immigration reform is centered on the reaction of Senate and House conservatives, quite a few Senate Democrats are content to play the waiting game even as President Barack Obama barnstorms for legislation.

There are nine Democratic members of the upper chamber who voted against the last immigration package: a 2007 bill pushed by the Bush administration and supported by the majority of the Democratic Caucus.

Several, like labor supporters Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Tom Harkin of Iowa, ended up opposing the bill — in part because of provisions in the guest worker program and what they saw as a lack of protections for low-wage earners. Others, like Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Max Baucus of Montana and Mark Pryor of Arkansas, hail from states where support for a pathway to citizenship might not sit well with voters. Sens. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, Jon Tester of Montana and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan also opposed the bill.

Complicating matters: Landrieu, Baucus and Pryor all are up for reelection in 2014.

“I want to see the legislation; there is no legislation yet,” Baucus said earlier this week.

But McCaskill said she may be able to support a bill — when there is finally one to read — because of the group’s emphasis on border security, workplace enforcement and financial penalties for those who illegally immigrated before they can gain citizenship.

“I still stand for the proposition that there has to be a penalty for breaking the law,” she said. “How that is drafted and what status they are given, and when, and how they go to the back of the line — the practical impact of that is something I’m going to look at before I say yea or nay.”

McCaskill also cited improvements in enforcement of current law as reasons she could potentially support whatever package is eventually agreed to.

“Border security is better than what it was six years ago,” she said. “Deportations and a primary emphasis on undocumented workers who have committed crimes are at record levels. We are finally going after employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants in an effective and aggressive way, which did not happen in the Bush administration.”

Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska), who is up for reelection in 2014, said his initial impressions were positive. But, like the rest of his colleagues running for office, his concerns were local.

“Anytime you can get a bipartisan approach of something of that magnitude, especially with that complex of an issue, I think it’s a good sign,” he said. “For me, we’re going to look at it very carefully, especially around J-1 visa issues which impact fishing industry in a negative way, so we have to resolve that.”

Harkin and Brown both indicated they would like to see immigration reform done in a comprehensive way and felt positive so far about the work they’d seen from the group.

“I think this group of people came together in a way that they haven’t before in 2007. I’m very optimistic we can do something,” Brown said. “I want to get there, I want to support this.”

Harkin, who has said he won’t run for reelection next year, said he planned to be deeply involved in the process moving forward to ensure the protection of labor laws and minimum wages for both “guest workers and domestic workers.”

“I’ve always been for immigration reform; in 2007 I just didn’t feel it had enough protections,” he said.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), one of the leaders in the group, has been candid about the fact he might not be able to get the support of the entire caucus. Instead, Schumer said he’d like to see the bill pass with broad bipartisan support.

“I’m not sure we will have every single Democrat … but we want a large number of Republicans to be able to vote for this bill because we think that will encourage the House not only to move forward but to pass a bill,” he said Thursday.

Majority Leader Harry Reid has promised that legislation will go through regular committee order and that will ultimately be key to producing a bill that gets a wide swath of support, Schumer said.

Schumer said the 2007 deal failed because of a labor-backed amendment introduced by then-Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) that would have ended the temporary worker program after five years. Many Senate Democrats, including then-Sen. Barack Obama, supported it.

“Hopefully, such an amendment would be brought up in committee, we would see where the relative strength and weakness of that amendment is, and we’d modify the bill so it could pass,” Schumer said.

“In retrospect, it was a mistake not to go to through the committee process last time, as hard as it is,” he added.

Liberal senators might want the bill to go further than Republicans could support. For instance, Obama has said he would like to include protections for LGBT couples in the final legislation.

“I certainly would like to see that included in the bill as well,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.). “What we’ve seen so far is just a framework. It doesn’t have everything that I want in it, but I think this is going to be a compromise.”

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Moderate Dems coy on immigration debate - Kate Nocera - POLITICO.com