Thread: The Senate might not reach an immigration deal — and people are worried about what co

The Senate might not reach an immigration deal — and people are worried about what comes next


February 13, 2018

Joe Perticone

• The Senate is moving forward with debate on a potential compromise to fix DACA and provide border security.
• Republicans and Democrats are at odds on how to proceed.
• Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has set a timetable of completing any deal by the end of the week.

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WASHINGTON — Congress is advancing on a plan to address both border security and the undocumented immigrants benefitting from the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program as part of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's commitment several weeks ago that ended the federal government shutdown.

But the Republicans and Democrats in the Senate remain fiercely divided on what kind of bill they would be willing to vote for — on top of whether President Donald Trump would sign the final product.

McConnell began Tuesday by begging Democrats to move forward with the amendment process to a shell bill now on the Senate floor. McConnell also stressed that any immigration fix has to come by call of business Thursday when Congress departs for a weeklong recess.

"Look, this is an issue we've been talking about literally for years," McConnell told reporters. "Something passed the Senate in 2013, we spent three months talking to the Democrats about this. There's no reason in the world why if there is a core 60 votes to support something, we can't achieve it in the next few days. So that's the timetable."

But Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer signaled he was not on board with McConnell's plea for Democrats to start offering amendments that would each receive a fair shake on the floor. Rather, Schumer wants the Senate to vote on two separate bills — one based on Trump's outline of immigration principlesissued last month, and the other on the text of the compromise deal between Sens. John McCain and Chris Coons.

Schumer acknowledged that neither proposal would pass a 60-vote threshold, but he said it would give senators a better picture on what kind of compromises could be made.
"That will tell us sort of the bounds," Schumer said in a press conference. "I don't think either of them will get large bipartisan support, but it will give us an idea of the parameters and can set us moving."


Some senators have strict nonstarters in any final bill

Some Republicans have already drawn lines in the sand over certain proposals, which could make the push to get 60 votes in favor of a bill that much harder.Sen. Ted Cruz told reporters he has no intention of backing a plan that provides a pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients and that nothing currently being considered would satisfy him.

"I do not believe we should be granting citizenship to people here illegally," Cruz said. "Right now there are a variety of amnesty proposals circulating, all of which I think are a bad idea."

In addition, Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake is at odds with the White House on curbs to legal immigration levels. MSNBC reported on Monday that Flake would be a hard "no" on any bill with such a proposal.


Major concern if the Senate fails to reach a deal by the end of the week

Schumer sidestepped McConnell's end-of-week timetable, telling reporters that "we're gonna keep fighting in every way we can."
"But right now our focus is getting to 60. That's gonna take a lot of push and pull, a lot of compromise," Schumer added. "No one is gonna get everything they want. That's how we work around here."

But Republicans suggested there is a real danger in failing to come up with a solution this week.

"We can't lose sight of the fact that even though the court case has allowed DACA eligible persons to go back and reapply, there's a real deadline out there everybody should be mindful of," Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina told Business Insider.
"If there's no deal by the end of the week, I think that leaves the DACA recipients in some jeopardy," added Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn.



http://www.businessinsider.com/will-...ca-deal-2018-2

They're in jeopardy because they're in our country in violation of US immigration law. You want to change the law and let children hauled in here by parents and smugglers become citizens because they didn't come here "through any fault of their own", then change the law, but unless you change the law so it applies equally to everyone, then your legislation is unlawful because it violates the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution, the naturalization clause of the US Constitution, and yes, even the ex post facto clause of the US Constitution, in addition to the US Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Senate immigration debate quickly stalls

McConnell remarks on immigration debate on Senate floor
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell spoke in morning remarks about the immigration proposal on the table from Republican senators.




And Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is giving senators only one week to find a solution for Dreamers.


By BURGESS EVERETT and ELANA SCHOR
02/13/2018 11:26 AM EST


Updated 02/13/2018 05:24 PM EST


The Senate's much-anticipated immigration debate stalled on Tuesday with party leaders feuding over how to even begin.
And there may not be much time left to reach a deal, as Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced that the Senate's work on a solution to the expiring Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program would be limited to this week.

“Senators have had plenty of time to prepare,” the Kentucky Republican said. “There’s no reason why we should not reach a bipartisan solution this week. But to do this, we need to get the debate started, look past making political points and focus on actually making law.”

McConnell later attempted to set up floor votes on a sanctuary cities amendment from Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and a competing proposal chosen by Democrats. But Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) objected, saying the Toomey language "doesn't address Dreamers, nor does it address border security" — the two basic elements underpinning this week's debate over the fate of hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants who will soon be at risk of deportation.

"Let’s get this debate started on the right foot," Schumer said. He proposed a pair of votes, on a GOP amendment to implement the president's immigration framework and, from Democrats, a bill by Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) that addresses Dreamers as well as border security. The McCain-Coons proposal, which includes no border wall funding, has no support from the White House and would almost surely fail to get 60 votes.

McConnell chided Democrats later Tuesday for their objection, telling reporters, "I'm not trying to dictate to" Democrats which option they should put up for an initial vote, so the minority "shouldn't be trying to dictate to us" which GOP proposal to call up.

Several Republican senators were under the impression last week that McConnell could allow multiple weeks of debate. That prospect seems to have faded, though, as senators race to submit their amendments to a blank immigration bill now on the Senate floor.

Democratic leaders also suggested Tuesday that the immigration debate could wrap up by this week. Schumer told reporters that "if we can get a bipartisan compromise that looks like it's right in the ballpark of 60, let it rip. Let's go."

Two Republican amendments are expected to be ready imminently: The Republican effort to codify President Donald Trump's immigration framework and a compromise plan from Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) that follows some of the contours of Trump’s vision.

Senate Democrats are also considering whether to introduce a partisan Democratic bill, according to one Democratic senator, and several bipartisan proposals are under discussion. Flake is also expected to introduce a bare-bones amendment enshrining DACA protections for three years in exchange for some increased border security.

But Republicans have chafed at talk of a centrist proposal to protect people eligible for DACA offered by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.). The pair have yet to officially introduce their idea.

“I’ve got everything ready. I can give them five amendments today if he wants them,” Durbin responded on Tuesday. “And [McConnell] knows what’s in these things. It’s no secret.”

Durbin said he’s trying to fuse border security and protections for DACA recipients with some changes to family-based immigration. He said both Trump’s plan and the DREAM Act supported by Democrats will fail on their own: “It has to be something in between.”

Graham, like Durbin, declined to commit to pushing for a vote on a version of their plan. The ideal outcome, Graham said on Tuesday, remains "a consensus amendment that can get 70 votes." He called the GOP version of Trump's immigration framework "pretty good," calling for "some compromise off that proposal," though he declined to say he would vote for it.

Once senators in both parties produce some amendments, McConnell is prepared to hold alternating votes between Democratic and Republican immigration amendments, according to a Republican senator. That senator predicted none will get 60 votes in the current political environment.
“This is a very difficult issue. We’re all aware of that,” said Schumer on Tuesday. “We’re on the verge, it’s still hard. We’re not there yet, but we can get something done.”

McConnell is supporting Trump’s framework to cut legal immigration, provide $25 billion in wall funding and establish a pathway to citizenship for 1.8 million young immigrants. But the plan faces overwhelming opposition from Senate Democrats, giving it no realistic path to 60 votes in its current form.

“I believe it deserves support of every senator who’s ready to move beyond making points and actually making a law," McConnell said. "But if other proposals are to be considered, our colleagues will have to actually introduce their own amendments rather than just talk about them."

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/...connell-407269

"There is no right way to do a wrong thing."

May the squabbling continue.

Originally Posted by GeorgiaPeach

"There is no right way to do a wrong thing."

May the squabbling continue.

EXACTLY!!! Furthermore, it's totally unconstitutional, because it all violates the 14th Amendment, the uniform naturalization clause as well as the ex post facto clause of the US Constitution. DACA AMNESTY like any AMNESTY for violations of existing and continuing law is ILLEGAL in the United States. You have to repeal the law they broke and THEN grant amnesty. These Congresscritters are so frigging stupid, it's just unbelievable.

They have been "debating" stinking Amnesty since 1986!

Nothing to debate...deport them ALL.

NO COMPROMISE AND NO DAMN DEAL!

NOT ONE TAXPAYER DIME TO UNDOCUMENTED FOREIGN CITIZENS WHO ARE IN THIS COUNTRY ILLEGALLY NO MATTER WHAT ROCK THEY CRAWLED OUT FROM!

GRIDLOCK! GRIDLOCK!! GRIDLOCK!!!!