While the Senate has just officially begun debating DACA with an empty bill (after delays cause by Democrats), a group of bipartisan Senators say they have reached a deal on DACA:
Sen. Jeff Flake tells @FoxReports the bipartisan group working on DACA/immigration, after weeks of work, expects to announce its proposal today
— Phil Mattingly (@Phil_Mattingly) February 14, 2018
JUST IN: Bipartisan Senate group has a deal on DACA, GOP Senators say https://t.co/uVZ0coAzTf pic.twitter.com/c8DalrlCdx
— Bloomberg (@business) February 14, 2018
A bipartisan group of senators has consensus on a deal to give a path to citizenship for so-called Dreamers and also add funding for border security, GOP Senator Lindsey Graham said.
The deal doesn’t address the diversity visa lottery and overall issue of family-based immigration, Graham said, although so-called Dreamers’ parents wouldn’t qualify for family-sponsored visas.
Language on the deal will be available in a few hours for senators to review and decide if they’ll sign on, senators said.
“I believe our group has come together on an approach,” GOP Senator Susan Collins said, declining to address specifics. GOP Senator Jeff Flake also confirmed that the group had reached consensus.
Of course we should have known it’d be Flake and Graham involved here. Which means this new bipartisan deal probably won’t amount to much just like their previous DACA deals, especially if it gives away a path to citizenship but ignores the visa lottery and chain migration.
Meanwhile, both Trump and McConnell are supporting the Grassley ‘path to citizenship’ immigration bill in the Senate, the same one that Tom Cotton got behind yesterday. But McConnell doesn’t know as of yet whether they can get the needed 60 votes for the bill.
UPDATE:
Here’s more on the bipartisan bill:
BREAKING: details of bipart senate imm proposal per @LindseyGrahamSC.
— Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDNews) February 14, 2018
- DACA and border security only
- DACA path for citizenship for 1.8 million
- at least $25b for border security
- Family migration limited for DACA parents only - not allowed to gain status via their kids.
UPDATE:
Here’s another bipartisan plan that smells a lot like the Graham bill:
https://twitter.com/lisadnews/status/963830377063309312