On Monday, the bipartisan Senate immigration bill, S.744 will be up for debate on the full Senate floor.While some senators, including one of the bill’s author, Sen. Marco Rubio, do not believe that it will get fillibuster-proof 60 votes, Sen. Schumer expects it to pass by the Fourth of July and Sen. Durbin thinks it can “[reach] the desk of President Obama by early fall.”
Meanwhile, The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee is moving forward on piecemeal immigration reform. The Hill reports Chairman Bob Goodlatte is scheduling markup for its three current bills. Rep. Nancy Pelosi believes “a bill could be sent to [President] Obama to sign by August.”
Different groups have also voiced their support (evangelical Christians and Catholic nuns) & opposition (ICE and USCIS union leaders) to the the proposed bill.
On the other hand, gay rights advocates are divided on the issue since protections for bi-national gay couples are excluded from the bill. Similarly, immigration advocates are growing more concerned about the future of the bill — how it will get more and more diluted with “too many concessions” in order to gain strong Republican support.
What does the general public think about all this?
A recent Quinnipiac University poll found despite a majority of voters supporting a “pathway to citizenship,” 71 percent think “that Democrats and Republicans in Congress will not be able to work together to achieve immigration reform.”
With so much politics (and rhetoric) involved, it is quite hard to stay positive when it comes to immigration. However, let’s keep the fire burning and hope that Congress can still pull through with this immigration reform.
Want to learn more about the Senate’s immigration bill, S.744?
The staff at the +Immigration Policy Center have put together a new guide to S. 744 (available here: http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/special-reports/guide-s744-understanding-2013-senate-immigration-bill) that reduces the bill to its most basic elements, explains some of the more complicated issues, and puts the bill into a broader policy context. To introduce the guide, staff will give a short overview of each title (section) of the bill and make the new guide available online.
When: Friday, June 7, 2013, 1 p.m. EST
How: To RSVP and obtain dial in information, email Amanda Beadle at abeadle@immcouncil.org
This Week in Immigration: Choosing Sides
Nicole Prchal Svajlenka wraps up the ;news ;on the ;fast-moving issue of immigration policy and reform.
