A bipartisan group of Senate lawmakers announced Thursday it would tweak its bill to protect Dreamers and boost border security funding in a bid to win support for the measure, which could get a vote as early as today.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said a provision that would have only prioritized the deportation of illegal immigrants who arrive after June 30, 2018, will be changed to say they will be prioritized after Jan. 1, 2018.
The June 30 language led critics to argue that this date would encourage a surge of last-minute illegal immigration by those who want to get in before then, so as not to be treated as a priority for enforcement.
“We are going to readjust that back to the original date because it has been misunderstood,” Collins said. She added that the intent of the language is to warn illegal immigrants in the future that they will be a priority for deportation.
Either version, however, would essentially put into law that any immigrant arriving in the U.S. illegally before this year would not be a priority for enforcement action, unless they are serious criminals or pose a threat to national security. That idea is supported by Democrats, who are looking to make sure most illegal immigrants can stay in the U.S.
But it drew a sharp response from the Department of Homeland Security, which said the bill would “destroy the ability of DHS to enforce immigration laws” and would create “mass amnesty.”
The bipartisan group has not been able to garner 60 votes for their measure and the Trump administration has threatened to veto the bill.
But in a press conference on Thursday, members of the group urged others to get behind the plan and argued it is the only proposal that stands a chance of passing the Senate.
“I don’t think we will finally know exactly how many senators will vote for this until we are on the floor and are calling the vote,” said Sen Chris Coons, D-Del., a sponsor.
Democrats huddled Thursday afternoon in a closed-door meeting, where leaders urged them to unify behind the plan. It provides a pathway to citizenship for the Dreamers in exchange for border wall funding and makes a slight change to chain migration, preventing Dreamers from sponsoring citizenship for their parents who brought them to the United States illegally.
The Senate is set to vote on four immigration plans as early as today, but Democrats have yet to agree to allow votes today. That’s because Democrats were busy trying to shore up support for the Collins plan, which they see as the only viable option.
“If this doesn’t go, there’s no answer,” said Sen. Angus King, I-Maine. “We won’t be able to solve this problem.”
King said the Collins bill “is a positive start,” and said the Senate could move to “the next step” in future weeks. Republican leaders, however, have pledged to dedicate this week only to immigration reform.
