Thread: Senators on verge of bipartisan deal for 'Dreamers'

Flake: Senators on verge of bipartisan deal for 'Dreamers'

01/11/18 01:38 PM EST

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) on Thursday said a bipartisan group of senators is getting closer to a deal to provide protection to young immigrants known as Dreamers and that would also include border security provisions.

"We've got this bipartisan group. We are at a deal. ... It's the only game in town," Flake told reporters.

Asked what was the biggest remaining hurdle, Flake pointed to a border security package "and what's sufficient. That's what we're working on but we've pretty much got a bill."

Other senators indicated they did not believe the group was as close to a deal as Flake indicated.

A spokesman for Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) downplayed Flake's comments, noting the group of senators were close but did not yet have an agreement.

"We are extremely close to a strong bipartisan deal to help dreamers. However, nothing is final yet and there is no legislative text to share yet," the spokesman said.

The White House also downplayed the idea that the group is on the verge of a deal.Marc Short, the White House's director of legislative affairs, noted that the president has not signed onto the emerging agreement and that there's a "long way to go."

The group of senators holding talks — which also includes Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Graham and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) — have been negotiating for months on a deal that would include a fix for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

Their agreement is expected to include legalization for DACA recipients known as Dreamers and a border security package, as well as deal with changes to the State Department's diversity visa lottery program and family-based immigration policies.

Those four parameters are in line with what President Trump and lawmakers agreed to during a White House meeting earlier this week.

Any deal reached by the group would have to win buy-in from the White House, House and Senate.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said a message had been delivered that while it was fine for the bipartisan group to negotiate they would not be able to single-handily decide what the final DACA agreement is.
Durbin, Graham and GOP Sens. Tom Cotton (Ark.) and David Perdue (Ga.) met with Trump at the White House on Thursday.

Flake said the group has discussed shifting the diversity lottery visas to Temporary Protected Status (TPS) recipients, though he did not indicate if that would be in the legislation.

Senators have also been discussing narrower changes to "chain migration" — which allows citizens and green card residents to sponsor family members — which could draw pushback from conservatives and GOP colleagues.

Flake did not say when senators would be ready to release their deal, but that it could "possibly" be released on Thursday.



http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/3...migration-deal

Senator Flake just spoke. The Senate has a 60 vote amnesty deal. He laughed at the others.

Like I've said, we have to kill this amnesty blackmail in the Republican controlled US House of Representatives.