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Three-Week Deadline for Immigration Reform?

Posted April 23, 2010 by Patrick Young, Esq.
Categories: Federal Immigration Policy

The Washington Post says that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has set a three-week deadline for Senators Schumer and Graham to work out a deal on comprehensive immigration reform or else the Democrats will move forward with a bill of their own. According to the Washington Post:

The move came as Reid vaulted an immigration overhaul to the top of Congress’s spring agenda, saying at a leadership meeting this week that the Senate could take up the measure before it considers an energy bill. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) agreed to hold a vote before congressional elections in November if the Senate passes a bill, aides said.

The developments underscore election-year realities and appear to reflect in part a political calculation by some Democrats: even if their bill fails, a debate could rally their base and mobilize Hispanic voters against GOP lawmakers in some districts.

In recent weeks, key Democratic supporters including Latino groups, labor unions and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus have stepped up pressure on Reid and President Obama to tackle the immigration question, as Obama pledged to do in the 2008 presidential race and as Reid has committed to supporters in his Hispanic-heavy home state, where he faces an uphill re-election battle.

Obama may address the issue Friday morning at a Rose Garden citizenship ceremony for U.S. active-duty military service members, an event the White House added to his schedule late Thursday.

As pressure on Democrats has increased, Graham has cooled his support for a measure that would strengthen border enforcement, crack down on employers who exploit illegal workers, and lay down a path for legalization or expulsion of roughly 12 million illegal immigrants. Instead, he has made clear in interviews that his priority is an energy and climate bill, and he has blasted the White House for failing to lay the groundwork for a Schumer-Graham package.
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Immigration advocates said Graham’s new stance decreases the odds that an immigration overhaul will pass the Senate. If Democrats choose to advance a bill with no Republican backing, however, they could attempt to shake loose support from nine or 10 Republican senators, using language voted on recently by the House and debated by the Senate in 2006 and 2007.

“They [Democrats] can fold their tent, say Lindsey Graham doesn’t want to go ahead, or they can say, ‘We’re the ones in the majority, in the White House, let’s lean into it, see if we can make it harder for them [Republicans] to say no,’ ” said Frank Sharry, executive director of America’s Voice, an umbrella pro-immigration advocacy group.

Obama has joined the fray, calling Republican Sens. Scott Brown (Mass.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), George LeMieux (Fla.), Richard G. Lugar (Ind.) and Judd Gregg (N.H.) to solicit their support on Tuesday, his spokesman said.

Adding fuel to the volatile political mix, Arizona’s legislature recently sent Gov. Jan Brewer (R) legislation that would give police in that state the broadest power in the nation to check the status of people they suspect are illegal immigrants, galvanizing activists on both sides.

Tags : graham, harry reid, immigration reform, schumer

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