President Biden’s plan to implement a sweeping immigration overhaul is met with fierce headwinds in Congress, which in recent years has become a legislative black hole for reform efforts.
Biden, as one of his first bills, outlined a broad bill that would provide pathways to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants, strengthen refugee protection and incorporate new technology along the border.
Democrats recognize that a narrow majority in the House and the need for GOP support in the Senate will likely dictate which immigration proposals, if any, can pass through Congress and make it to Biden’s desk.
“There are some things that I think are likely to be included and some things that will be too broad a reach,” said Senate Majority Whip. Dick Durbin
Dick Durbin Democrats Roads Expanding Lower Courts After Trump Blitz Biden Revives Congressional Immigration Struggle Biden Immigration Plans Hitting Early Snags MORE (D-Ill.), The incoming chairman of the judicial committee, on Biden’s plan.
Instead, Durbin plans to start with a smaller issue that already has bipartisan support – the so-called dreamers – when he and Sen. Lindsey Graham
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The bill is expected to reflect the legislation they previously offered, which will provide extended permanent residency and eventual citizenship to immigrants who have been illegally introduced into the country as children who meet certain work and education requirements.
Durbin said he sees the bipartisan measure as the starting point for larger negotiations on a bill that could get 60 votes in the Senate, the amount needed to overcome a filibuster. If every Democrat were to vote for an immigration bill, he would still need the support of 10 GOP senators to continue.
“That will be our starting point for building up support and considering possible additions to it. It’s tricky terrain, ”said Durbin.
Meanwhile, Sen. Robert Menendez
Robert (Bob) MenendezBiden rekindles immigration struggles in congress Biden immigration plans hit early snags Senate confirms Antony Blinken as Biden’s secretary of state MORE (DN.J.) is leading the way on legislation that reflects Biden-Harris’s proposal, though he acknowledged that he is “under no illusions” about the legislative path ahead.
“I know from time to time in the Gang of Eight that pushing through immigration reforms through the Senate in particular is a daunting task,” said Menendez, who was part of the 2013 effort to implement a comprehensive overhaul. at an event with supporters of immigration reform.
Immigration agreements have eluded Congress for years. Although members on both sides of the aisle say they want a deal, they disagree on exactly what it should look like.
In 2013, the Senate passed a bill on immigration reform, with 68 votes, including a 13-year path to citizenship. The measure eventually came to a halt in the GOP-controlled home.
Of the GOP senators who supported that bill, only Sens. Susan Collins
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Since then, negotiating a deal on immigration has only become more politically charged, largely due to the past President Trump
Donald Trump Kelli Ward Rejects Request For Arizona GOP Race Audit Rifle Sales Rise Amid Pandemic Uncertainty, Biden’s Vow For Gun Reform Top Trump Impeachment Attorney Bowers Leaves Team: Reports MORErise to power and his continued grip on the GOP base. Trump took a hardline on immigration, pouring billions of dollars into the controversial US-Mexico border wall.
In 2018, Trump briefly opened the door to a path to citizenship for dreamers in exchange for $ 25 billion for his border wall. But that was quickly unraveled when his government revised the offer by adding cuts to legal immigration. The Senate finally rejected four immigration plans in mid-February of that year.
After the Democrats took control of the House in 2019, they passed immigration laws pertaining to the Delayed Action for the Arrival of Children (DACA) and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) recipients program, but it ran a dead end in the the GOP-controlled senate.
Republicans have panned Biden’s immigration proposal, underlining that without ignoring the 60-vote legislative filibuster, something the Democrats don’t currently have the votes for, it probably won’t go anywhere anytime soon in a 50-50 Senate.
“The new administration has also drafted a general amnesty proposal that would undermine the enforcement of US laws while creating enormous new incentives for people to rush here illegally. This kind of failed approach will trigger another humanitarian crisis on our border,” said GOP leader of the senate Mitch McConnell
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When asked about Biden’s proposal, Graham said in a telephone interview with The Hill that it would require broad, comprehensive immigration reform, and “I just don’t see room to do that.”
The Biden administration and immigration advocates have agreed to break up the package if it makes it easier to get it through a tight-margin Congress.
Marielena Hincapie, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center and former co-chair of the Biden-Sanders unit task force, said she supports the adoption of Biden’s legislation in parts and suggested that a bill protecting key workers could help the reconciliation process to pass, that only requires a simple majority to pass.
“We are in favor of providing as much assistance as possible to immigrant families at the moment. If that means the best and quickest way to do that is through different legislative instruments, then that’s definitely a support for that, ”she said.
But getting smaller is still filled with potential stumbling threads for Republicans.
Graham said he saw his DREAM Act bill with Durbin as a starting point for negotiations that should eventually include border security elements and address the root causes of immigration. If they couldn’t get a bigger deal, Graham said, he wouldn’t pass a standalone DREAM Act, nor think 10 Republicans would back it.
“I am sympathetic to the dreamer population,” said Graham, adding that the legislation should be done in a way that also “did not increase incentives for more illegal immigration.”
He added that his bill with Durbin “is a good place to start the discussion and build a compromise that is beneficial to the dreamer population and not spurring a third wave of illegal immigration.”
Other Republicans warn Durbin not to go too broad, predicting that this would only lead to a deadlock for legislation that already faces a high likelihood of passage. Durbin has named DACA and TPS as his top priorities.
“Better start with something small like DACA,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley
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When asked about combining DACA with TPS, Grassley said he would rather focus on the first problem alone, but even combining the two would have a “much better chance of getting that done than if they did everything at length. . “
Her. John Cornyn
John Cornyn Democrats Roads Expanding Lower Courts After Trump Blitz Biden Revives Immigration Fight In Congress Trump’s Disapproval Faces Major Trouble In Senate MORE (R-Texas), another member of the Judiciary Committee, said he had “more or less given up” the comprehensive reform but wanted to “find a solution” for DACA recipients through legislation.
However, Cornyn also seemed skeptical about combining with temporary protections.
“Well, there you go, start adding other things,” he said. ‘I think that’s the problem; you have to take it little by little. “
Morgan Chalfant contributed.