kramerica.inc wrote: ↑Thu Jan 05, 2023 3:44 pm
MDlaxfan76 wrote: ↑Thu Jan 05, 2023 3:27 pm
kramerica.inc wrote: ↑Thu Jan 05, 2023 3:24 pm
dislaxxic wrote: ↑Thu Jan 05, 2023 2:39 pm
Help me out here. The last time there was a "comprehensive immigration bill" actually up for consideration...i THINK i remember that it came up in a Democratic administration, but had been debated in conference with the Republicans in Congress at the time. Don't remember the specifics (it was a long time ago).
My recollection was that the R's would not budge off their position that there could be no, absolutely NO, "pathway to citizenship" included in the bill. This was, and i think still is, a non-starter for the D's.
...
No, the Dems are not spotless in the effort, but the resistance to being comprehensive about it, on these bottom-line aspects, IMO - came largely from the right.
Correct.
The right wouldn't budge AND the left wouldn't budge.
So it was the right's fault for being stubborn.
Nope, when we got closest to getting it done comprehensively (meaning compromise!), it was a handful of R's in the lead, Dems quite willing, but hard right R's brought it down.
It was a scenario that really could have gotten it done, but W's political capital was spent...
Perhaps. And more recently:
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/02/18 ... biden-news
Senator Bob Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey, said at a virtual news conference. “They voted to restore common sense, compassion, and competence in our government. And part of that mandate is fixing our immigration system, which is a cornerstone of Trump’s hateful horror show.”
...
Mr. Menendez and Representative Linda T. Sánchez, Democrat of California, unveiled the immigration legislation, which will be called the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 and is based on a proposal Mr. Biden announced on his first day in office. The two lawmakers were joined by 10 of their colleagues for the announcement.
The centerpiece of the legislation is an eight-year path to citizenship for most of the 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States as of Jan. 1. After passing background checks and paying taxes, they would be allowed to live and work in the United States for five years. After that, they could apply for a green card, giving them permanent status in the United States and the opportunity to win citizenship after three more years.
But the bill tries to make the most far-reaching changes in immigration law in more than three decades. It would sweep away restrictions on family-based immigration, making it easier for spouses and children to join their families already in the country. And it would expand worker visas to allow more foreigners to come to the United States for jobs.
Unlike previous efforts to overhaul immigration, the legislation does not include a large focus on increased border enforcement. Instead, the bill adds resources to process migrants legally at ports of entry and invests $4 billion over four years in distressed economies in the hopes of preventing people from fleeing to the United States because of security and economic crises.
Mr. Menendez acknowledged that it would be difficult to win the support of the 10 Republican senators needed to pass Mr. Biden’s legislation. The Senate is split 50-50 and Democrats will need 60 votes to overcome a filibuster.
But Mr. Menendez rejected arguments by some immigration advocates that Congress should pursue more targeted bills that provide citizenship to smaller, more discrete groups of undocumented people.
“We will never win an argument that we don’t have the courage to make,” he said. “We will do the righteous thing and make our case for both inclusive and lasting immigration reform. And we have seen in poll after poll, the vast majority of Americans are standing with us.”
Darn Republicans, not playing nice and wanting it all their way.
Yes, but I don't think they felt that the Republicans were willing to negotiate the rest of what would be needed. It was a hard no to any negotiation at all. A serious negotiation would have been about border enforcement, but the GOP made it a hard no based on the rest. They want (or at least their hard right base wants)
solely border enforcement.
So, gesture made, no real political capital spent.
But the situation is rising in priority, Dems know they could be vulnerable if they don't address border enforcement, so we may see this bill plus border $ get introduced. Most of the GOP will remain a hard no, but there's a possibility some rational folks would entertain the deal.
But then you have the House. And knowing that, there's little incentive for GOP Senators to be seen willing to provide the things the Dems want, no matter the border $.
And of course there's the lobbyists who won't want E-verify, which I think is essential to this comprehensive effort to bring nearly all immigrants into the legal light.