Senators work to protect 700K from deportation

“Chain migration” to help parents likely to be a sticking point

Nearly two-dozen senators from both parties want to offer legislation next week that would protect almost 700,000 undocumented immigrants from deportation, but they’re stuck on whether their measure should protect the parents of these immigrants from deportation too.

Most Democrats want to preserve the socalled “chain migration” system that lets newly documented immigrants help family members attain legal status. Many conservative lawmakers counter this system has to end or at least be substantially scaled back.

President Donald Trump has said DACA, an Obama-era executive action, will end March 5, so Congress is about to get serious codifying the program into law. But getting consensus is difficult, maybe impossible.

Some Republicans say colleagues should be prepared to accept a short-term extension of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program if members can’t come up with a deal. Democrats want only a permanent fix.

Fierce disagreements remain over how much to spend on Trump’s border wall, and whether to eliminate the diversity lottery that incentivizes visas for people from countries with lower immigration rates.

All these flashpoints are being vigorously debated among members of the self-described, self-selected “common-sense coalition” that’s been meeting in Maine Republican Susan Collins’ office for the three weeks as they prepare for an immigration debate.

The working group was formed during the government shutdown last month.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who helped write the immigration bill that passed the Senate in 2013 but stalled in the House, has more recently inserted himself into negotiations. Rubio is trying to temper expectations and prepare for compromise.

Rubio in particular is advising members to avoid the issue of “chain migration,” also called “family-based migration,” when it comes to the parents of DACA recipients. “We are likelier to pass a bill that is silent on the parents,” Rubio said.