Senate Rejects Bipartisan Immigration Plan And Trump’s, Too

WASHINGTON (AP) —
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill., left) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) walk together outside the chamber during debate in the Senate on immigration, at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

The Senate rejected both a bipartisan immigration plan and a more restrictive proposal by President Donald Trump on Thursday, suggesting the latest election-year debate on an issue that fires up both parties’ voters will produce a familiar outcome: stalemate.

Facing a White House veto threat and opposition from the Senate’s GOP leaders, the chamber derailed a plan by bipartisan senators that would have helped 1.8 million young immigrant “Dreamers” achieve citizenship. It also would have doled out $25 billion for Trump’s coveted wall with Mexico and for other border security measures, but it didn’t go as far as Trump wanted in curbing legal immigration.

It lost 54-45, six short of the 60 votes that were needed for passage. That scuttled what had seemed the likeliest chance for sweeping immigration legislation to make it through the Senate this year.

Trump’s own plan fared even worse as 60 senators voted no and just 39 voted for it — 21 shy of the 60 needed. The embarrassing outcome for the president underscored the feelings of Republicans concerned about election damage in swing states with high numbers of Hispanic voters.

Top Democrats had held out faint hopes that the bipartisan package would prevail, or at least force Trump to negotiate further. But he proved unwilling to fold on his demands for a tougher bill, reflecting the hard-line immigration stance that was a cornerstone of his 2016 presidential run.

In a written statement earlier Thursday, the White House labeled the bipartisan proposal “dangerous policy that will harm the nation.” It singled out a provision that directed the government to prioritize enforcement efforts against immigrants who arrive illegally beginning in July. Trump and GOP leaders said he’d already shown flexibility by offering a 10- to 12-year path to citizenship for so many Dreamers, a key demand for Democrats and some Republicans.

Minutes later, the chamber voted against Trump’s proposal. Besides helping Dreamers achieve citizenship, the president’s measure would have provided wall funding in one burst, rather than doling it out over 10 years as the bipartisan plan proposed.

“Dreamers” are immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children who risk deportation because they lack permanent authorization to stay.

Trump annulled the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, that President Barack Obama created that’s protected the Dreamers. He’s given Congress until March 5 to restore the program, though federal courts have blocked him temporarily from dismantling it.

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