Bipartisan Immigration Bill for Dreamers Falls 6 Votes Short

Meanwhile, Trump-supported rival bill tanks
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 15, 2018 5:24 PM CST
Senate Tries, Fails to Pass 4 Different Immigration Bills
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, is joined by other members of her "common sense coalition" to discuss a bipartisan immigration deal during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 15, 2018.   (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

The Senate voted on four immigration bills Thursday, Reuters reports. All four failed, leaving hundreds of thousands of Dreamers to once again fear deportation. The toughest loss was a bipartisan bill written by eight Republicans, seven Democrats, and an Independent, which fell just six votes short of passing, according to NBC News. The bill—similar to a recent proposal out of the White House—offered Dreamers a path to citizenship and provided $25 billion for border security and President Trump's wall. However, it didn't make the cuts to legal immigration that the White House has pushed for. Ahead of the vote, Trump called the bill "a total catastrophe" and Jeff Sessions warned it would "invite a mad rush of illegality across our borders," CNN reports.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, a bill written by Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley and fully supported by Trump didn't come anywhere near passing, getting only 39 of the needed 60 votes. ”This vote is proof that President Trump’s plan will never become law," Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer says. "If he would stop torpedoing bipartisan efforts, a good bill would pass." An immigration advocate added: “It is noteworthy that the only vote to reach a supermajority of 60 votes was the resounding defeat of Trump’s racist and radical immigration plan." A bipartisan bill partly written by Sen. John McCain and a fourth bill mostly centered on punishing sanctuary cities also failed. Trump has ordered that Obama-era protections for Dreamers end March 5. However, that order is currently being held up by the courts. (More immigration stories.)

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