Senators hope to approve bipartisan immigration reform within months

[spookyturtle 9,466]

What do you think the chances are of this passing? Distract everyone with the gun talk and give amnesty to the illegals? Where's the VJ outrage over this?

By Michael O'Brien, Political Reporter, NBC News

A bipartisan group of senators formally unveiled an immigration reform framework that they hope the Senate could pass "in overwhelming and bipartisan fashion" by late spring or early summer.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday on Capitol Hill, five of the eight members of a bipartisan working group announced the contours of their agreement, which would shore up America's borders and provide an eventual path to citizenship for undocumented workers.

A bipartisan group of senators, led by Democrat Chuck Schumer and Republican John McCain, have reached agreement on a framework to overhaul the nation's immigration system.

"We still have a long way to go, but this bipartisan grouping is a major breakthrough," New York Sen. Charles Schumer, a Democratic member of the group of eight, said Monday afternoon.

Schumer, the No. 3 Democrat in the Senate, set an ambitious goal of translating the statement of principles released Sunday evening by the senators into legislation by March. He said the Senate would try to approve the legislation for consideration in the House by the end of spring, or early summer.

The major development involves the pathway to citizenship for undocumented workers that would be established under the Senate plan. Conservatives have resisted similar proposals -- even when they were proposed by President George W. Bush -- and labeled them as "amnesty" for individuals who entered the United States illegally.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said that Americans "have been too content for too long" to allow many undocumented workers to provide basic services "while not affording them any of the benefits that make our country so great."

"It is not beneficial to this country to have these people here, hidden in the shadows," added McCain, whose own experience on the issue of immigration provides an instructive example of why immigration reform has been so elusive for Congress.

McCain had long been one of the most vocal advocates of a pathway to citizenship for undocumented workers, but tempered his opinions in recent years amid conservative scrutiny. As he was fighting off a conservative primary challenger in 2010, McCain appeared in a television ad saying it was time to "build the danged fence" -- a reference to the proposed fence along the U.S.-Mexico border, which is favored by a number of Republicans.

The senators' announcement on Monday comes a day before President Barack Obama was set to make a major policy address on Tuesday in Nevada on the topic of immigration. While Obama had not been expected to outline any formal legislation during his remarks, lawmakers from both parties will carefully parse the president's words for their impact on the immigration debate. Schumer said that he had spoken to the president about the Senate framework, and that the president was "delighted" by it.

Obama himself had vowed to achieve comprehensive immigration reform during his first term, but his efforts were stymied. That failure invited a degree of consternation from the Latino community during last year's presidential campaign, even though Obama had taken executive action to halt the deportation of individuals who were illegally brought to the United States as children.

(That order, made by Obama last summer, sought to effectively enact much of the DREAM Act, a piece of legislation that failed in the Senate as recently as 2010, when some Republicans who'd previously supported the law flipped, and voted against it.)

Indeed, the success of this push in the Senate may well hinge on Republicans' willingness to go along with a plan that gives undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship. Texas Rep. Lamar Smith, an influential House Republican, already labeled the Senate framework as "amnesty" in a statement on Monday.

House GOP leaders were otherwise mum on Monday toward the Senate proposal, though top Republicans have previously expressed a preference for tackling immigration in a piecemeal manner.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a member of the eight-member group and a favorite of conservatives, has worked to gather conservative support for the proposal. He said at Monday's press conference that while no one is happy about the estimated 11 million immigrants living in the United States illegally, "We have an obligation and need to address the reality that we face."

The other factor weighing upon Republicans involves their poor performance among Hispanic voters -- a bloc that is growing in importance in a variety of key battleground states -- during last fall's election.

"The Republican Party is losing support of our Hispanic citizens," McCain said Monday in a nod toward a variable that could convince more GOP lawmakers to support this bipartisan proposal. But, McCain noted, "We're not going to get everybody onboard."

In the meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., pledged to "do everything in [his] power as the majority leader to get a bill across the finish line."

"Nothing short of bipartisan success is acceptable to me," he said in remarks on the Senate floor preceding the group of eight's press conference.

http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/28/16741007-senators-hope-to-approve-bipartisan-immigration-reform-within-months?lite

[SaharaSunset 165]

Well I for one am outraged!!! This "undocumented immigrant" BS kills me! Illegal immigrants are ILLEGAL. If something like this does pass, I want a refund for all the fee's, time, and emotional energy we put into doing this all legally. I'm gonna sue the US government for a cool mil. That should cover the "pain & suffering" we experienced in our forced separation of a year, lawyer fees, time lost from work etc, while going through immigration legally. And I sure as hell am not filling out one more scrap of paperwork, or paying one more fee in this process. We'll just ride the amnesty wave.

If illegals have to go through the same rigorous process as the rest of us, and risk not being accepted and being sent home, just like those of us who did it legally - then I'm all for it. Let them eat cake! And if we want to fix the process I'm fine with that too. It ridiculous I agree. But if all the illegals that are here now benefit from the "fix" - then all the "legals" should benefit well.

Edited January 29, 2013 by SaharaSunset

[Pooky 3,807]

What do you think the chances are of this passing? Distract everyone with the gun talk and give amnesty to the illegals? Where's the VJ outrage over this?

It's very similar to BushBaby's 2007 proposals, which went nowhere due to overwhelming, bipartisan public opposition.

Can the electorate be energized the same way in 2013? I doubt it. The mid-terms are most of 2 years away and the House and Senate are likely gambling that enough will happen between legislation passing and the next elections that people won't give a Flying Burrito Brother how they vote.

That doesn't make it right and doesn't alter the fact that if the House and Senate had enforced the legislation enacted alongside President Reagan's 1985 amnesty, the USA would not be dealing with 12-20 million illegal immigrants today.

[Darnell 8,478]

well, peg it where it is today, the day the announcement was made.

fast forward to the day the president signs it into law.

compare the diff, study 'who got the pork' and study who got in the much needed things to make this work.

Enjoy !

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

Well I for one am outraged!!! This "undocumented immigrant" BS kills me! Illegal immigrants are ILLEGAL. If something like this does pass, I want a refund for all the fee's, time, and emotional energy we put into doing this all legally. I'm gonna sue the US government for a cool mil. That should cover the "pain & suffering" we experienced in our forced separation of a year, lawyer fees, time lost from work etc, while going through immigration legally. And I sure as hell am not filling out one more scrap of paperwork, or paying one more fee in this process. We'll just ride the amnesty wave.

Good luck with your plans! Locus standi's a good lark!

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

This will happen.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Well I for one am outraged!!! This "undocumented immigrant" BS kills me! Illegal immigrants are ILLEGAL. If something like this does pass, I want a refund for all the fee's, time, and emotional energy we put into doing this all legally. I'm gonna sue the US government for a cool mil. That should cover the "pain & suffering" we experienced in our forced separation of a year, lawyer fees, time lost from work etc, while going through immigration legally. And I sure as hell am not filling out one more scrap of paperwork, or paying one more fee in this process. We'll just ride the amnesty wave.

Good Luck with that and do keep us abreast on how this all works out for you.

[Pooky 3,807]

This will happen.

Sad, but true.

[SaharaSunset 165]

Good Luck with that and do keep us abreast on how this all works out for you.

Oh I will. And when I get my million(s), I'll tell ya all about from my villa on the Amalfi Coast

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Sad, but true.

It's sad because this will be the end of this wave of illegal immigrants and the beginning of the next wave. Thus far, these waves have only gotten bigger and I don't see that changing. They will not enforce employment eligibility in any meaningful way and thus the economic magnet will be as strong following the amnesty as it is now. If we could once and for all make sure that employers that employ those not eligible to work are fined and taxed out of business, this might work. But that is NOT going to happen.

Oh I will. And when I get my million(s), I'll tell ya all about from my villa on the Amalfi Coast

Yeah, right.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

What do you think the chances are of this passing? Distract everyone with the gun talk and give amnesty to the illegals? Where's the VJ outrage over this?

By Michael O'Brien, Political Reporter, NBC News

A bipartisan group of senators formally unveiled an immigration reform framework that they hope the Senate could pass "in overwhelming and bipartisan fashion" by late spring or early summer.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday on Capitol Hill, five of the eight members of a bipartisan working group announced the contours of their agreement, which would shore up America's borders and provide an eventual path to citizenship for undocumented workers.

A bipartisan group of senators, led by Democrat Chuck Schumer and Republican John McCain, have reached agreement on a framework to overhaul the nation's immigration system.

"We still have a long way to go, but this bipartisan grouping is a major breakthrough," New York Sen. Charles Schumer, a Democratic member of the group of eight, said Monday afternoon.

Schumer, the No. 3 Democrat in the Senate, set an ambitious goal of translating the statement of principles released Sunday evening by the senators into legislation by March. He said the Senate would try to approve the legislation for consideration in the House by the end of spring, or early summer.

The major development involves the pathway to citizenship for undocumented workers that would be established under the Senate plan. Conservatives have resisted similar proposals -- even when they were proposed by President George W. Bush -- and labeled them as "amnesty" for individuals who entered the United States illegally.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said that Americans "have been too content for too long" to allow many undocumented workers to provide basic services "while not affording them any of the benefits that make our country so great."

"It is not beneficial to this country to have these people here, hidden in the shadows," added McCain, whose own experience on the issue of immigration provides an instructive example of why immigration reform has been so elusive for Congress.

McCain had long been one of the most vocal advocates of a pathway to citizenship for undocumented workers, but tempered his opinions in recent years amid conservative scrutiny. As he was fighting off a conservative primary challenger in 2010, McCain appeared in a television ad saying it was time to "build the danged fence" -- a reference to the proposed fence along the U.S.-Mexico border, which is favored by a number of Republicans.

The senators' announcement on Monday comes a day before President Barack Obama was set to make a major policy address on Tuesday in Nevada on the topic of immigration. While Obama had not been expected to outline any formal legislation during his remarks, lawmakers from both parties will carefully parse the president's words for their impact on the immigration debate. Schumer said that he had spoken to the president about the Senate framework, and that the president was "delighted" by it.

Obama himself had vowed to achieve comprehensive immigration reform during his first term, but his efforts were stymied. That failure invited a degree of consternation from the Latino community during last year's presidential campaign, even though Obama had taken executive action to halt the deportation of individuals who were illegally brought to the United States as children.

(That order, made by Obama last summer, sought to effectively enact much of the DREAM Act, a piece of legislation that failed in the Senate as recently as 2010, when some Republicans who'd previously supported the law flipped, and voted against it.)

Indeed, the success of this push in the Senate may well hinge on Republicans' willingness to go along with a plan that gives undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship. Texas Rep. Lamar Smith, an influential House Republican, already labeled the Senate framework as "amnesty" in a statement on Monday.

House GOP leaders were otherwise mum on Monday toward the Senate proposal, though top Republicans have previously expressed a preference for tackling immigration in a piecemeal manner.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a member of the eight-member group and a favorite of conservatives, has worked to gather conservative support for the proposal. He said at Monday's press conference that while no one is happy about the estimated 11 million immigrants living in the United States illegally, "We have an obligation and need to address the reality that we face."

The other factor weighing upon Republicans involves their poor performance among Hispanic voters -- a bloc that is growing in importance in a variety of key battleground states -- during last fall's election.

"The Republican Party is losing support of our Hispanic citizens," McCain said Monday in a nod toward a variable that could convince more GOP lawmakers to support this bipartisan proposal. But, McCain noted, "We're not going to get everybody onboard."

In the meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., pledged to "do everything in [his] power as the majority leader to get a bill across the finish line."

"Nothing short of bipartisan success is acceptable to me," he said in remarks on the Senate floor preceding the group of eight's press conference.

http://firstread.nbc...hin-months?lite

I am outraged. I don't have time to read the whole thing so I will wait until the argument turns into a few snippy lines then decide.

[SaharaSunset 165]

It's sad because this will be the end of this wave of illegal immigrants and the beginning of the next wave. Thus far, these waves have only gotten bigger and I don't see that changing. They will not enforce employment eligibility in any meaningful way and thus the economic magnet will be as strong following the amnesty as it is now. If we could once and for all make sure that employers that employ those not eligible to work are fined and taxed out of business, this might work. But that is NOT going to happen.

Yeah, right.

Its sad and true - hence my lawsuit against the government. And don't be jealous you didn't think of this brilliant idea first

I am outraged. I don't have time to read the whole thing so I will wait until the argument turns into a few snippy lines then decide.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

It's sad because this will be the end of this wave of illegal immigrants and the beginning of the next wave. Thus far, these waves have only gotten bigger and I don't see that changing. They will not enforce employment eligibility in any meaningful way and thus the economic magnet will be as strong following the amnesty as it is now. If we could once and for all make sure that employers that employ those not eligible to work are fined and taxed out of business, this might work. But that is NOT going to happen.

Yeah, right.

Well slap me upside the head. We are on the same side of the argument on this one.

My fav President started this BS back in the 80's

[Pooky 3,807]

Well slap me upside the head. We are on the same side of the argument on this one.

My fav President started this BS back in the 80's

But Reagan's amnesty was accompanied by fairly decent preventive measures. If Congress had honored their side of the bargain, we would not be facing the situation we are now.

Nothing about the way the Senate and the House do business these days gives me any confidence that things will be different this time around.

[spookyturtle 9,466]

And then those ten million suddenly legal citizens will all go out and buy guns.