Bipartisan group of senators holds immigration talks amid border surge

ECW · 04-21-2021, 09:58 PM

Quote:

A bipartisan group of senators led by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) met Wednesday afternoon to explore the possibility of immigration reform legislation that could address the surge of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Senators praised the meeting afterward as “constructive” and a promising start but said they didn’t reach agreement on any core elements.

The talks come amid what Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas says is on pace to be the biggest migrant surge in 20 years.

The starting points include the Republican demand that the asylum process at the southern border be streamlined so fewer migrant children are released into the United States to await the processing of immigration courts and the Democratic demand that immigrants who were brought into the country illegally at a young age, "Dreamers," be given a path to citizenship.

“It was a good meeting. It was a very positive meeting and bipartisan, obviously,” Durbin said. “We did not reach any conclusions. We want to pursue a number of elements: the bills that came over from the House as well as border security.”

He was referring to two immigration reform bills passed by the House in March.

The American Dream and Promise Act would let immigrants who entered the country as children earn permanent legal status and eventual citizenship.

The Farm Workforce Modernization Act would grant temporary legal status with the option to become permanent residents to farm workers and reform the H-2A agricultural guest worker program.

Durbin said that “many of the ideas are on the table, and we invite the administration to look at them, join us in this conversations.”

Wednesday was the second time the group of senators has met this year.

It plans to schedule another meeting soon, but Durbin declined to set a deadline for reaching a deal.

On the issue of border security, Durbin said that “it’s not a simple issue of ‘do this and it’s fixed.’ It involves so many things.”

He said there needs to be cooperation with the Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador to stem the flow of migrants fleeing violence and poverty.

He also acknowledged Republican calls to reform the immigration courts in the United States.

“Most of these we’ve been through before. We got to sit down. We agree, I think we agree, on a bipartisan basis that we got to reform the system, as far as we can take it,” he added.

Durbin declined to talk about the prospect of attaching immigration reform to an infrastructure package that Democratic leaders plan to pass through the Senate under budget reconciliation to bypass an expected GOP filibuster.

Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), a close Biden ally, said he was encouraged by the meeting.

“It was a very constructive conversation with a group of interested individuals,” he said.

Other lawmakers who attended Wednesday’s meeting were Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.).

Collins, Murkowski and Graham were three of the 14 Senate Republicans who voted for a comprehensive immigration bill that passed the Senate in 2013.

Notably, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), a member of the bipartisan Gang of Eight that crafted the 2013 immigration bill, did not attend Wednesday’s meeting.

Asked about Rubio’s absence, Durbin said, “I hope he will be” involved.

“I’ll ask him to,” he added.

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/...d-border-surge

vft1008 · 04-21-2021, 10:35 PM

Congress rushing to get us our GCs before the midterms:

hDreamer1988 · 04-21-2021, 10:55 PM

Same on yahoo news, but this is from Corny:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/bipartisa...003756207.html

Quote:

A bipartisan group of senators that met privately Wednesday agreed to have their staffs draft a document outlining incremental immigration changes so they "can build from there," Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) told Axios.

Why it matters: The Republicans and Democrats recognize that Congress has failed numerous times to pass comprehensive reform, so now they're looking for a starting point amid a migrant surge at the southern border.

Behind the scenes: The group, led by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), met behind closed doors in the Mansfield Room, steps away from the Senate floor.

Attendees included Cornyn and Durbin, as well as Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).

Sens. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) called in.

The biggest areas of consensus were protections for so-called Dreamers and preserving the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), according to a source familiar with the discussion.

What they're saying: "I was making the argument, and I think people generally understand, that we're not going to do comprehensive immigration reform on this," Cornyn told Axios.

"We do incremental a lot better," he added. "Unfortunately, there's not a lot of trust. But I think if we did something that is pretty much consensus, like DACA, then that would be confidence-building, and then we'd kind of move on to the next."

Durbin said: “We did not reach any conclusions. ... We put many ideas on the table. And we're going to invite the administration to look at them and join us in this conversation."

"I think we agree on a bipartisan basis that we've got to reform the system, as far as we can take it," Durbin added.

Yes, but: There's already one hiccup.

While Durbin told reporters he sees the immigration bills that recently passed in the Democratic-controlled House as "starting points,” most Republicans see them as non-starters.

"I think that'd be a mistake. There wouldn't be any support for the House bills," Cornyn told Axios.

hDreamer1988 · 04-21-2021, 10:57 PM

Quote:

Congress rushing to get us our GCs before the midterm

We waited decades already so I am not in any rush, its not like we are getting deported tomorrow.

To summarize, the article says they are going to try to do a narrow bill... mostly aimed at daca/dreamers.
It's in the early stages.

Outsider626 · 04-21-2021, 11:04 PM

Same shit. Promising discussion but nothing is going to happen.

cooltalker · 04-22-2021, 03:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Outsider626

Same shit. Promising discussion but nothing is going to happen.

Yup...

justjohnjustice1988 · 04-22-2021, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vft1008

Congress rushing to get us our GCs before the midterms:

Exactly how I see it lol

justjohnjustice1988 · 04-22-2021, 09:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hDreamer1988

We waited decades already so I am not in any rush, its not like we are getting deported tomorrow.

To summarize, the article says they are going to try to do a narrow bill... mostly aimed at daca/dreamers.
It's in the early stages.

The good things out of this:

Discussions are still ongoing

Dems want to give GOP a compromise on asylum law changes with legalization for us.

Bad news:

Not enough GOP Senators showed up

Red neck · 04-22-2021, 10:33 AM

@JakeSherman
·
1h
DURBIN, on
@PunchbowlNews
live event, says a permanent DACA/border security bill is looking likely.

made4u · 04-22-2021, 11:45 AM

Yo. Where is the rollercoaster ride pic that ive been seeing for years?

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
				1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30	31

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Bipartisan group of senators holds immigration talks amid border surge