The US Senate began the battle for the fate of thousands of immigrants

Ninety-seven U.S. senators voted to open a broad debate on immigration reform as disagreements emerged over what lawmakers hope to ultimately see, writes "Voice of America«.

Photo: Facebook / Senate GOP

“I hope the Senate can seize this opportunity and make real progress,” said Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

In the coming days, a debate is expected on the future of hundreds of thousands of immigrants. President Donald Trump marked the beginning of the debate last year by announcing the closure of the Delayed Action for Children Arriving in the USA (DACA), which gave temporary legal status to immigrants who were brought to America illegally in childhood. Trump gave Congress time before 5 March to decide their fate.

Trump offered to give DACA beneficiaries the opportunity to obtain American citizenship. This idea is supported by the majority of legislators of both political parties. In addition to building a wall on the US-Mexico border, Trump seeks to reduce the number of immigrants that America accepts from around the world, and give priority to newcomers with advanced labor skills.

Senate Republicans unveiled a proposal, the Security and Continuity Act (Secure and succeed act) — which includes the White House's immigration plan.

“I support the proposal of the president and my fellow [Republicans] to implement it,” McConnell said. “The Security and Continuity Act is fair, addresses the most pressing concerns expressed by both sides, and meets the conditions set forth by the President.”

Any immigration proposal requires the consent of the 60 senators. Republicans have a 51 voice. Democrats said the Republican immigration plan was doomed to failure.

“The key to solving the problem is a joint bill that is broadly acceptable to a majority of members in both parties,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. “The only enemy here is to embrace everything.” Now is not the time or place to reform the entire immigration system. Rather, this is the moment for a limited bill.”

Democrats and some Republicans have proposed to limit the immigration bill only to solving the problem of DACA and improvements in border security.

According to Democratic Senator Dian Feinstein, this is also unlikely to succeed.

“We will likely see at least three bills,” Feinstein told VOA. — The first, most likely, will be a Republican bill, the second will be a Democratic bill. They'll probably both be defeated, and then maybe the third bill will be a compromise."

A compromise bill can come from a Senate working group from both political parties. Under the leadership of the Republican Senator from Maine, Susan Collins, the group helped put an end to the three-day partial disruption of the federal government last month.

“I think [the Senate immigration proposal] is doable,” Collins told VOA. “We are working on our bipartisan, overall coalition proposal, which I expect we will present this week.”

The Senate will consider individual immigration proposals as amendments to a consistent bill that will serve as a legislative tool for immigration reform.

“This is a topic we've discussed in recent years,” said Republican Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming. “I expect a very spirited debate and then a vote on whoever gets 60 votes.”

“I'm not sure it's going to happen because we've been trying this [reforming U.S. immigration laws] for a very long time,” said Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois.

"Seventy or 70 percent of Americans, including myself, agree that kids who grew up here who haven't been in trouble [with the law] not only should be able to stay, but we should be interested in their desire to stay and be a part of growing economy and our vibrant society,” Missouri Republican Senator Roy Blunt told Voice of America. - 80 percent of Americans think we need to improve border security. Surely these two things can be combined in legislation that ends up on the president’s desk.”

Any bill passed by the Senate must also be approved by the House of Representatives and signed by Trump to gain the force of law.

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