And yet, even Republicans who were open to more liberal immigration policies are closing the door on that approach now, while the party criticizes President Joe Biden for not doing more to contain the crisis, which means finding the 60 votes needed in the equally divided chamber to advance any immigration bill remains a daunting task.
“The world has changed in eight years – dramatically,” said Florida Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican architect of the 2013 bill, who was paralyzed that year in the House led by the Republican Party.
Asked if he would support a comprehensive effort now, Rubio said: “Not in a big account, no. You have to do it in pieces.”
But doing it in pieces opens up a whole host of other problems.
Senior Senate Republicans are demanding strict border security provisions and restrictions on asylum seekers to include in any proposal. However, if Democrats agree to such an approach, they are bound to provoke adverse reactions among progressives – especially in the House.
“It will be very easy to do something if this government wants to control the borders, which they don’t want now,” said Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, the Senate Judiciary Committee’s most important Republican, when asked about moving fragmented proposals.
“I said a long time ago: the right wants to carry 11 million people and get them out of the country or they are not going to vote on the project, and the left wants to legalize, or give everyone citizenship yesterday,” said Grassley. “And you can’t get 60 or 70 votes when that’s what you’re up against. ”
Rift among Democrats
“I think we are much more likely to deal with discrete elements,” said Durbin.
Some Democrats rejected these comments.
“I don’t think that’s acceptable,” said Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, on Tuesday night when asked how the base would react if Democrats did not implement a plan with a path for citizenship to the 11 million undocumented immigrants.
Senator Ben Ray Lujan, a Democrat from New Mexico, added: “I do not believe that any of us should abandon the advance to try to get more support for comprehensive immigration reform. … I will not admit to making progress on comprehensive immigration reform. immigration. ”
And even senators running for re-election are maintaining this approach.
“We need to do a deep and comprehensive immigration reform,” said Sen. Mark Kelly, an Arizona Democrat who spoke to Biden about the humanitarian situation on the border. Asked whether he sees the situation on the border as a crisis, which the White House refused to do, the undecided state democrat said, “Yes. I mean, it is an incredibly challenging situation.”
But some leading Democrats seem to be on the side of the White House rhetoric.
“I wouldn’t call it a crisis,” said Durbin. “But it is certainly a challenge.”
Some Democrats are eyeing the budget process to advance the party’s immigration line vote
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, did not say whether he would use the reconciliation process for immigration law – and ultimately that decision would be up to Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer .
“To make reconciliation, you need to have the vote of all Democrats. We haven’t had these conversations yet to see if we would have all Democrats vote on this,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, a Democrat from Virginia.
Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia, said that instead of reconciliation, he wants his party to “go back to normal order”. “You can’t just assume that everyone is against everything just because this place has become so (full of) tribalism. Someone has to try to put it back in place.”
On Tuesday, Schumer would not rule out trying to pass a comprehensive bill, telling reporters, “My biggest wish is to pass comprehensive immigration reform.” He added that “we will do everything possible to explore this area.”
For many Democrats who have spent years trying to draft comprehensive immigration bills, the political reality is that many of their Republican colleagues who were willing to negotiate a comprehensive immigration reform bill or vote in favor if they were – or are not willing to – return to the table
“I think what Senator Durbin had in mind is trying to put pieces of immigration reform together. It looks like a more realistic way to go,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat. “Republicans have always been afraid of their own shadow when it comes to immigration reform.”
Senator Chris Coons, a Democrat from Delaware, added: “Sometimes you have to start with a modest bipartisan proposal and see what else you can build on top of it.”
In the House, Democratic leaders plan to schedule votes later this week for two bills that aim to give recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, a path to citizenship and to expand the country’s agricultural workers program. The bills passed the House at the last Congress and must be approved again, but even these two-party measures face a rise in the Senate.
Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina and author of the comprehensive 2013 immigration reform bill, told CNN that now is not the time for legislation to legalize DACA recipients.
“I am totally in favor of the Dreamers, but you do not want to take care of them and at the same time encourage another form of legal immigration, so the window now to do anything does not exist because this flow at the border has to be controlled,” said Graham.
Other Republicans say any effort to legalize Dreamers or expand visas for farm workers will have to come with robust border security clauses, which could prevent progressives from supporting a final deal.
“I think there are several of us who are willing to work on immigration projects, but that has to be very targeted and put in place some of the verification practices that we want to see,” said Sen. Joni Ernst, an Iowa Republican.
This story was updated with additional details on Tuesday.
CNN’s Sarah Fortinsky and Ted Barrett contributed to this report.