Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will begin marking up the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act, the bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform bill from the "Gang of Eight."
301 amendments have been filed, setting the stage for extended debate. Senate immigration bill brings flood of amendments:
About two-thirds of the 301 proposals came from Senate Republicans, including measures to grant Congress more authority over security along the border with Mexico, to require illegal immigrants to provide DNA samples before gaining legal status and to reduce the number of undocumented workers who would be eligible to pursue citizenship.
The amendments reflected the desires of many GOP lawmakers, who say that they will support only a comprehensive overhaul that puts a higher priority on law enforcement along the border and in the workplace. The Senate Judiciary Committee will begin considering the amendments Thursday, and the fate of the 844-page bill will be tested by a process that is likely to stretch through several days of hearings in coming weeks.
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Although Democrats have generally been more supportive of the bill, they offered dozens of amendments, including two from Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (Vt.) that would allow same-sex foreign spouses and partners of U.S. citizens to apply for visas. Republicans have said that they will not support any comprehensive bill that includes gay rights protections.
Despite the potential pitfalls, the sponsors of the legislation expressed confidence Tuesday that it will survive, even thrive, through the amendment process. Members of both parties acknowledged that the bill is likely to grow more conservative in nature because the GOP-controlled House is unlikely to support the legislation in its current form.
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The four Democrats and four Republicans in the coalition have said that they will work together to fend off any “poison pill” amendments offered with the intent of killing the legislation.
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Jeffrey Bell, policy director with the American Principles Project, said Rubio was “confident that he can get the changes, that the bill has to change somewhat and that, at the end of the day, it’s going to be okay.”
Leahy has said that he hopes the Judiciary Committee will finish the amendment process and hold a vote on the bill by the end of the month, potentially sending it to the floor for a full Senate vote in the summer.
House leaders are weighing whether to consider a comprehensive immigration bill or to break it into smaller pieces, a tactic opposed by Democrats and the White House.
Think Progress has a list of The 11 Most Heartless Republican Amendments To The Immigration Bill.
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