This afternoon, the Senate voted by a 82-15 margin to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to the immigration bill, S. 744.  Compared to the 2007 immigration debate, when the similar procedural vote only advanced by a 64-35 margin, today’s vote is a promising sign.  It is expected... Continue »
View the roll call here: YEAs —82 Alexander (R-TN) Ayotte (R-NH) Baldwin (D-WI) Baucus (D-MT) Begich (D-AK) Bennet (D-CO) Blumenthal (D-CT) Blunt (R-MO) Boxer (D-CA) Brown (D-OH) Burr (R-NC) Cantwell (D-WA) Cardin (D-MD) Carper (D-DE) Casey (D-PA) Chambliss (R-GA) Chiesa (R-NJ) Coats (R-IN) Cochran (R-MS) Collins (R-ME) Coons (D-DE)... Continue »
The day after Senator Kelly Ayotte’s (R-NH) endorsement of the immigration reform bill gave the effort a momentum boost, the Huffington Post reports that Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) is encouraging Republican Senators to hold back support for the bill until it takes on “a more conservative bent.” Elise Foley... Continue »
Nevada Senator Harry Reid spoke on the Senate floor today regarding immigration reform. Here’s the video and his remarks as prepared for delivery are below: For most of her life Anna Ledesma has been afraid. She was a model student at Centennial High School in Las Vegas – an... Continue »
There’s been a lot of news about Senator John Cornyn’s plans to introduce a poison pill border security amendment when the Gang of 8 immigration bill hits the floor next week. This afternoon, Greg Sargent reports on a very important development: Senate Democrats aren’t going along with Cornyn. They... Continue »
The same day that Karl Rove published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal warning Republicans about the need to better shape Latino perceptions of the GOP, and the same day that John Boehner penned a Spanish-language op-ed in La Opinion entitled “Protecting the American Dream,” almost every House... Continue »
As we’ve been writing about, the Republican-led House this morning took a vote on an ugly amendment from Steve King that attacks DREAMers and strips away funding for President Obama’s deferred action for DREAMers (DACA) program.  It was mostly a symbolic vote on a provision that will never become... Continue »
Next week, the Senate will begin consideration of the immigration reform bill. That legislation passed in the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 21, 2013 by a vote of 13 – 5. Because it has been so rare to see a real debate in the Senate on legislation with bipartisan... Continue »
  Update: Also congratulations to Connecticut for moving forward with a bill that will soon protect undocumented immigrants who report crime. All attention for immigration legislation is on the Gang of 8 reform bill that’s soon to hit the Senate floor—but major changes that could benefit immigrants’ lives are... Continue »
After several productive weeks for immigration reform in the Senate Judiciary Committee and ahead of a busy legislative push in both chambers in the coming weeks and months, this week’s congressional Memorial Day recess offers a chance for pause and reflection about immigration’s legislative state of play. Here are... Continue »