Is the Immigration Reform Near? Senators think, “Yes”
A group of senators from Democrat and Republican parties who are working on a comprehensive immigration package believe they will be able to introduce a sweeping bill in Congress tackling the immigration issues, when the Senate returns to session after a two-week Easter break.
Earlier the immigration talks had slowed down when the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO were not able to agree on the scope of proposed guest-worker program, which resulted in delay in the ongoing negotiations.
Democrats Sens. Charles E. Schumer of New York and Michael F. Bennet of Colorado, as well as Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake, both Arizona Republicans, who are part of the group, recently toured the U.S.-Mexico border. During the tour, the senators saw border agents apprehend a woman who had climbed an 18-foot-tall fence.
After the tour, Sen. Schumer told the reporters, “Bottom line, we’re very close. I’d say we’re 90 percent there. We have a few little problems, we’ve been on the phone all day with our four other colleagues.” The other members of the group are Republican Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and Democratic Sens. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois and Robert Menendez of New Jersey.
Sen. Schumer is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s immigration subcommittee. This was his first visit to the border. He said that his observations will make it easier for him to persuade colleagues about the need for additional border measures. “What I learned today is we have adequate manpower but not adequate technology,” Schumer said at a news conference. “And John has been saying that all along,” referring to Sen. John McCain.
The senators are trying to encourage the public and lawmakers to support their plan, which would give a legal status to the nation’s illegal immigrants, but will require the border be deemed secure before anybody living here illegally gets a pathway to citizenship. There are estimated 11 million illegal immigrants residing in the country at present.
The main obstacle, though, has been bridging the divide between business and labor leaders over the particulars of how best to overhaul the nation’s guest-worker program. This issue was also the main factor that could not be resolved in 2007 and resulted in derailing the comprehensive immigration reform then.
