WASHINGTON — The Senate ended its immigration debate this week exactly where it began — in a stalemate.
In a major blow to President Donald Trump, the Senate failed to pass legislation based on his proposal that would have made major reforms to the legal immigration system, built a border wall and provide citizenship to about half of the Dreamers in the country.
The measure was one of three proposals the Senate voted on that would have addressed the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program, but it received the least support. Just over one-third of the Senate — 39 senators — voted for it, likely killing the measure for good.
The failure of two other proposals with bipartisan support Thursday also clearly demonstrates that Congress is no closer to figuring out a solution for Dreamers in legal limbo than they were when Democrats forced a government shutdown over the issue one month ago.
The Senate voted 54-45, short of the 60-vote threshold necessary, to pass one bipartisan agreement that was a pared-down version of the presidents’.
What happens next is uncertain. House Speaker Paul Ryan said that he’d bring legislation to the House floor but only a bill that the president would support.
The president and his team worked against the bipartisan proposal that was written by eight Republicans, seven Democrats and an Independent.
It had many similar elements to the presidents’, including a path to citizenship for 1.8 million Dreamers. But it differed in that the $25 billion for border security would be allocated over ten years instead of up front. It didn’t reform legal immigration, like the president’s plan, by drastically reducing family-based migration and ending the diversity visa lottery. Instead it would have prohibited Dreamers who gain legal status from sponsoring their parents.