2 immigration bills fall short in US Senate

WASHINGTON — The Senate left hundreds of thousands of “Dreamer” immigrants in limbo Thursday, rejecting rival plans that would have spared them from deportation and strengthened the nation’s border security. More than a quarter of Republicans abandoned President Donald Trump on an issue that helped propel him to the White House.

Also defeated was a plan by a bipartisan group of senators who offered a compromise that would have shielded the young immigrants and financed Trump’s call for money to build a border wall with Mexico, though more gradually than he wants. Eight Republicans joined most Democrats in backing that plan, but it fell short after the White House threatened a veto and GOP leaders opposed it.

The day’s votes, in which four separate proposals were defeated, illustrated anew Congress’ steep challenge in striking a deal on an issue that’s proven intractable for years and on which each party’s most fervent supporters refuse to budge. The outcome suggested there may be no permanent solution soon to help the Dreamers.

The Senate votes left the young immigrants facing a March 5 deadline that Trump has given Congress for restoring the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, that he annulled last year. Federal courts have blocked him temporarily from dismantling the Obamaera initiative, but without congressional action the immigrants will face growing risks of deportation as their protections expire.