The meeting came when senators from both parties acknowledged that a path to follow in a comprehensive immigration bill is unlikely, especially with the increase in migrants arriving at the border. And while Democrats have long pushed for legislation to offer permanent legal protection to undocumented immigrants brought to this country as children, Republicans are making it clear that they will not support anything without additional border security.
Senators are “trying to get a sense of what the parameters might be, and another meeting is coming when we put some proposals on the table,” said Senator Robert Menendez (DN.J.), who presented President Joe’s broad immigration reform Biden proposed in this Congress.
“It was a good first discussion,” added Senator Thom Tillis (RN.C.). “Nobody goes out alone. I thought everyone was genuinely interested. ”
Cornyn told POLITICO that he discussed the need to reform the current US asylum system. He would like to put asylum seekers in front of immigration judges right away, instead of allowing them to remain in the United States pending the trial date. At the moment, most migrants arriving at the border are expelled before they can apply for asylum under a public health authority that former President Donald Trump invoked in March 2020 at the start of the pandemic – which Biden has not yet revoked. Cornyn suggested pairing protections for Dreamers with asylum reform.
But Cornyn acknowledged the challenges of getting any immigration legislation – including passing protections for Dreamers, which has been popular for years – in the Senate. “And comprehensive immigration will never work,” he added.
In addition to Cornyn and Tillis, the GOP Sens. Susan Collins from Maine, Lindsey Graham from South Carolina and Mike Rounds from South Dakota attended the meeting. On the Democratic side, the Sens attended. Alex Padilla of California, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, Chris Coons of Delaware, Michael Bennet of Colorado, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada and Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico. Sens. Lisa Murkowski from Alaska and Mike Crapo from Idaho were invited but were unable to attend.
Durbin has been holding individual meetings with Republican Party participants for weeks, said a Democratic aide, laying the groundwork for Wednesday’s meeting. The group will meet again to go into more detail after a high-level lecture.
Last week, the house approved a couple of immigration accounts to offer legal protections for Dreamers, beneficiaries of Temporary Protection Status and rural workers, as well as to reform the existing H-2A guest farm worker program.
Both projects were approved with bipartisan support, but neither is expected to get the 60 votes needed in the Senate, especially given the current focus on what Republicans are calling the “Biden border crisis”. And it is even less likely that Biden’s comprehensive reform plan will receive any support from the Republican Party in its current form.
Meanwhile, the spotlight on the border situation is going nowhere, as more delegations of lawmakers are traveling to discuss what is going on. Republicans are blaming Biden, who they argue that has actively encouraged migrants to come undoing Trump-era policies. And Democrats are largely blaming Trump’s four-year efforts to close the border and dismantle the United States’ asylum system.
Cornyn and Senator Ted Cruz on Friday will lead a delegation of 17 Republican senators on the Texas-Mexico border, including Tillis, Collins and Graham.
Also on Friday, Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) will lead a delegation of Democrats to visit a facility that keeps unaccompanied children in Carrizo Springs, Texas. The planned visit is “supervision to ensure humane treatment and an orderly process to bring children and families together”, Castro wrote on Twitter, extending an invitation to any member of Congress. As of Wednesday afternoon, the delegation includes six Democrats, according to Castro’s office.