I would hope that as Murphy says, all Democrats would help -- and it would be great if they said so as soon as ANY Republican said anything - no matter how vague - of writing legislation. This is something where no political games (on our side) should be played. It does not matter who gains this "win". Peoples lives are in the balance. It was the right thing to do when Obama did it - and it will be the right thing if it is written into legislation.
The question is whether enough key Republicans will agree to legislation. Additionally, looking at the history,would it be be easier to pass something JUST on the Dream Act? That would have been more likely if the Senate and House were in our control. I suspect that many Democrats may look back to 2010 and regret that they did not put more pressure behind passing this.
I suspect that the Republicans will write the legislation including things that Democrats hate -- like funding for the wall. Look at past comprehensive immigration bills, all included big dollars for "border security" and legislation to define how each type of illegal immigrant should be treated who is here now and what the rules are going forward. The Senate and Congressional record has members of both parties giving thoughtful speeches (and some less than thoughtful) on changes needed beyond the huge important first step of defining what should be done with the then estimated to be 12 million undocumented people. What is clear is that EACH piece of comprehensive immigration is complex and controversial.
In 2010, there were two efforts to pass legislation that included just the DREAM ACT. At that point, we had 59 Senators. In September, both Don't ask, don't tell and the DREAM ACT were included in a must pass National Defense Act. However, they reached an impasse where they could only get a 56-43 vote and could not defeat the filibuster attempt. The bill passed when the DREAM Act was removed.
Then, in the lame duck session (obviously with the same Senate), the House passed the Dream Act, but in the Senate - although Senators Lugar, Murkowsky and Bennett voted for it, it failed as Baucus, Hagen, Nelson(NE), Pryor and Tester voted against it and Manchin did not vote (which in a filibuster vote is equivilent to a no.) The measure needed 60 votes and it got 55. Had we held ALL the Democrats or gotten McCain, Graham and others who previously had been for comprehensive legistaion, thiswould have become law. Sadly, 2010 was our best shot. Although Reid wanted to pass something in 2011 and Schumer led a strong effort, with a more Republican Senate it was even less likely and never even came to a vote. That was the background for Obama's action in 2012. After Obama's action, the Senate did include the dream act in a 2013 bill that passed, but the Republican House did not pass a parallel bill.
Earlier in the last GWB term, there was a multi year bipartisan effort to pass a comprehensive immigration bill , involving people from Kennedy to McCain, - which failed - that was supported by President Bush. The history of that is that Kennedy and McCain introduced a bill on May 12, 2005. It contained legalization for some and defined the process for all, border security and a guest worker program. It was debated throughout the 109th Congress (2005/2006), but was never voted on. Variations of it were introduced in 2006 and 2007 (when Democrats had 51 Senators and control of the House.) In 2006, both Houses passed bills (with the Senate overcoming a filibuster) but they were different enough that they failed to agree on a joint bill in conference. In 2007, a similar bill failed badly - never coming close to 60 votes.(Here is the last vote on June 28, 2007 - where there were only 46 yeses. Many progessive Democrats - Brown (OH), Harkin, and Stabenow (MI) voted against it. https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=1&vote=00235
The question I have is whether a narrow bill - just on the Dream Act - is more likely to pass. In fact, Durbin and Lindsey Graham did introduce a bill in July 2017 to make the Dream Act law. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/immigration/durbin-graham-file-dream-act-hoping-to-ward-off-legal-challenge-to-daca/2017/07/20/19ade326-6cd4-11e7-b9e2-2056e768a7e5_story.html?utm_term=.2e1e813622f4 It was called a long shot.
The question is whether now - after 5 years of the Dream ACT being law thanks to President Obama, whether the country has moved enough to get 60 Senators in a significantly less Democratic Senate. (We have 48 Senators now vs 59 in 2010). Here, the optimism me thinks that as on gay marriage, the country might have had a huge shift on this --- the pessismitic me then questions how this could be true in a country that voted for Trump.
Looking at the four year effort, led by Kennedy, McCain and others of both parties, it is clear that even with a supportive President, who would have wanted getting comprehensive immigration passed as part of his legacy,it is incredibly difficult to write legislation that passes both Houses.
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