Bipartisan Senate Group Reaches Immigration Deal
Don’t know if it has the votes, though.
The Common Sense Coalition, made up of eight Democrats, eight Republicans, and one Independent, has struck a bipartisan deal on immigration even though they know President Donald Trump will likely veto it if it reaches his desk. (I feel like this is the tenth bill that has come up on this subject)
It includes a few portions from Trump’s bill, but lacks other “pillars” the president has emphasized like eliminating the diversity visa lottery.
These are the four pillars Trump desires: citizenship for the 1.8 million illegal immigrants brought to America at a young age by their parents, border security, ending the diversity visa lottery, and ending chain migration.
Here are the GOP senators that make up this coalition: Susan Collins, Lindsey Graham, Cory Gardner, Jeff Flake, Mike Rounds, Lisa Murkowski, Johnny Isakson, Lamar Alexander.
The New York Times reported:
The bipartisan measure, sponsored by eight Democrats, eight Republicans and one independent, would appropriate $25 billion for border security, including construction of the president’s proposed wall at the Mexican border, over a 10-year period — not immediately, as Mr. Trump demands.
It would also offer an eventual path to citizenship, over 10 to 12 years, for 1.8 million of the young undocumented immigrants, but would preclude them from sponsoring their parents to become citizens. It would make no changes to the diversity visa lottery system, which Mr. Trump wants to end.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said it’s more of “a two-pillar bill instead of a four-pillar bill.”
The Washington Times stated that the Department of Homeland Security believes this plan “destroys” the department’s “ability to enforce immigration laws, and would amount to an ‘amnesty for over 10 million illegal aliens.'”
Trump has pushed senators to oppose any bill that does not have his four pillars. From The New York Times:
“I am asking all senators, in both parties, to support the Grassley bill and to oppose any legislation that fails to fulfill these four pillars,” Mr. Trump said in the statement, referring to the chief sponsor of the measure, Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa.
The Grassley bill would provide a path to citizenship for 1.8 million young immigrants, end the visa lottery program, build a border wall and severely limit what he calls “chain migration,” which is family-based immigration. It would also increase the use of radar and tower-based surveillance, sensors and drones mostly along the Southwest border, increase the number of border patrol officers and deploy the National Guard to help construct border fencing and operate some of the surveillance equipment.
Mr. Grassley said that in offering the young immigrants, known as Dreamers, a chance to become citizens, Mr. Trump had been “much more compassionate on a compromise than anybody thought.”
Graham insists that the bill Trump and Grassley want to pass won’t receive 60 votes, especially since it ends chain migration:
“The president’s going to have a vote on his concept. I don’t think it will get 60 votes,” said Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina and a member of the group, adding: “The bottom line then is: What do you do next? You can do what we’ve done for the last 35 years — blame each other. Or you can actually start fixing the broken immigration system. If you came out of this with strong border security — the president getting his wall and the Dream Act population being taken care of — most Americans would applaud.”
Can this bill even reach Trump’s desk? Conservatives in the House have told Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) he’d “be in trouble if he called up what they see as a weak Senate bill.” House Freedom Caucus leader Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) said Ryan’s handling of immigration can determine his fate:
“I can say it is the defining moment for this speaker. If he gets it wrong, it will have consequences for him, but it will also have consequences for the rest of the Republican Party,” Mr. Meadows said Wednesday.
He said it defies history when the Senate is leading the House on tackling the “critical issue of the day.”
Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Chris Coons (D-DL) offered their own proposal that offers a path to citizenship for 3.2 million illegal immigrants and less than $3 billion towards border security.
Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) has his own bill that extends DACA for 3 years and border security funding.
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Comments
It is clear that Collins, Murkowski, Graham, and Flake have no clue what common sense is, if they are using it to describe themselves.
Historically, the names of legislation have had little in common with the laws that they establish
They know what they are doing. Being Pro-amnesty helps get them lobbying gigs after their political careers are over, and a lot of them actually believe the globalist Uniparty view that open borders are good for the country.
Remember RINOs are just Democrats by another name….
And the votes are in – 54 votes in favor, 45 against, did not hit the magic 60 vote threshold so the bill FAILS.
(singing a little song, the words of which are “I told you so, Rags, I told you so, heydee heydee heydee ho, heidi heidi heidi hi”)
Which means that NO immigration bill is going to pass the Senate before the recess. And nothing will pass before the March 5th deadline.
It does tell us that there are 54 senators who are all for Amnesty and Open Borders for all. But we already knew that, didn’t we? Funny that the GOP Senators who voted for this are the Never Trumper’s favorite Senators, like Corker and Flake.
What you “told me” is that T-rump was playing rope-a-dope. There was going to be no negotiation.
I’ve got the links, BTW.
What I’ve been saying for months is that if conservatives wanted to cock-block Der Donald, they throw his demand right back in his lap.
Today they DID! Of the proposals, T-rump’s garnered the LEAST support, and conservatives led the way. Because…amnesty.
Turn AZ, TX and FL blue with one stroke of the pen. Trump’s deal is suicidal enough, why amplify it?
Amnesty now, funding for border security never. Reagan got took much the same way.
Exactly. It’s the 1987 redux amnesty, promised border security and another wave of illegal aliens in the coming years to be followed by 1987 Part 3.
You are as obtuse as any NeverTrumpette.
These are the four pillars Trump desires: citizenship for the 1.8 million illegal immigrants brought to America at a young age by their parents, border security, ending the diversity visa lottery, and ending chain migration.
The first is not a desire, it’s the price Trump is willing to pay for what he wants. Any bill which offers that and little else is all cost and no benefit; the President won’t waste two seconds even considering it.
The D’rats won’t get what they want (or, more accurately, what they need). Not now, at least. So look for “plans” which have either—
—provisions which will let them recover later, when either a D’rat or a run-of-the-mill Republican is in the White House (that is, anything which allows them to cheat or drag their feet over the next few years); or
—delays. Anything which will happen “over ten years” won’t happen while Trump is President, which means it won’t happen at all, ever.
Someone’s been reading President Trump’s “The Art of the Deal?”
We should all read it.
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https://www.amazon.com/Trump-Art-Deal/dp/B01FY3KPY8/ref=sr_1_1_twi_audd_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1518726110&sr=8-1&keywords=%22the+art+of+the+deal%22++trump
Trump is going to have to start deporting Dreamers before these Senators will budge from their positions.
The problem with allowing any illegals to stay is that their numbers will greatly increase. Giving anyone amnesty was a huge mistake, one which only served to make the problem worse.
We should be looking at a final solution for anchor babies, by removing birthright citizenship if neither parent is a citizen.
How do we stop ongoing misuse of the 14th Amendment?
Especially those that use “breeding” as one way to “invade” a country and take over??????
All we have to do is take a look at Europe, which has committed cultural suicide. Canada has been following in their footsteps. Allowing large numbers of Middle Eastern people into democratic societies is a big mistake.
What is ironic about this is that we support those invaders so that they can take over. Now, that said, Hispanic invaders are considerably better than those from the Middle East, but either severely damages our gene pool.
The usual suspects.
I don’t trust anything with Graham, Murkowski or Collins on it. Flake is a lame duck so he’s going to go down in a blaze of glory stabbing conservatives in the back. Trump really does need to start deporting illegals by the hundreds next month. If he doesn’t, I don’t see a wall ever getting built.
Susan Collins, Lindsey Graham, Cory Gardner, Jeff Flake, Lisa Murkowski, Lamar Alexander.
I shocked to discover that these infamous six claim membership in the Republican party.
“Trump has pushed senators to oppose any bill that does not have his four pillars.”
Yet, this coalition calls itself ‘common sense’ when proposing half-baked crap that doesn’t meet Trump’s criteria.
It’s nothing more than one hand clapping from each of these congress critters.
I’m ready to go all Guy Fawkes on their collective asses. Metaphorically speaking, of course.
Each party gets their own, Gang of Eight. How nice. Too bad the independents can’t field a treasonous bunch of their own.
Note to Republican Senators: WE ARE NOT INTERESTED IN BIPARTISANSHIP! Build the wall, end chain migration, end the visa lottery. Fix that, then get to work on national voter ID and e-verify.
Want to stop illegal entry, enact a 3rd strike death penalty law. Then we can watch many of the illegals scurry back to where they belong.
I knew it was bogus as soon as I saw the false assertion it was “common sense”.
If it was based on common sense, it would be demonstrable and there wouldn’t be a need to assert it.
“Any man who must say ‘I am the King’ is no true King” – Tywin Lannister
Common Sense: “Let’s waste time and energy drafting a bill the President has already said he wouldn’t sign into law.”
Probably just a ruse to get another steak dinner from Chamber of Commerce lobbyists.
I hope that’s it. Otherwise these people are just plain stupid.
I thought there were Republican Senators in on the deal. Guess I misread that, for there are no Republicans among the names.