TIME
By Jay Newton-Small
June 11, 2013
Last night the Senate passed a
procedural measure to begin debate and bring to the
floor a comprehensive immigration reform bill, with
only 15 senators—all Republicans—objecting. Senator
Chuck Schumer, a member of the “Gang of Eight” which
largely crafted and guided the bill, has predicted
that the legislation will pass the Senate by July 4,
and Tuesday the President urged Congress to pass the
bill by the end of the summer. Senator Lindsey
Graham (R-S.C.), a member of the “Gang of Eight” and
a key Republican backer of the reform effort, spoke
with reporters on Capitol Hill about the recent
developments on the bill.
On the President’s role:
The President’s tone and engagement
has been very helpful to the bill. I am very pleased
with the role that the president’s played. I can’t
ask for more cooperation than he’s given here.
What do you think of the Cornyn
Amendment, which allows a pathway to citizenship for
illegal immigrants so long as the U.S. maintains at
least a 90% apprehension rate along the Southern
border?
The “Gang of Eight” is trying to
grow the boat. We’re talking to people trying to
figure out what their concerns are. We’re listening
to our colleagues. I’m all for border security but
here are a couple of things that would break the
bill apart: if it becomes unaffordable. Sen. [John]
Cornyn (R-Tex.) is trying to improve border
security, I appreciate that, but we can’t afford a
$25 billion addition as it breaks the bank and it
makes the bill not deficit neutral and it’s more
than the market will bear. If you want to have a new
trigger on the pathway to citizenship regarding
border security it has to be practical and
achievable.
But it seems popular among the GOP
conference…
Well, you know we think
sequestration is a good thing, and then we’re going
to throw money at the border, we’re a little
schizophrenic here. The bottom line is I think we
can improve border security, but it’s gotta be paid
for; it’s gotta be affordable.
But when it comes with additional
new triggers, the lack of trust is real. Here’s the
problem for our Democratic colleagues: when you say
90% operational control for the border, it wouldn’t
be hard to envision a Republican-controlled wing of
Congress where they undercut the ability to get to
90% with the lack of funding. I don’t trust our
Democratic colleagues to deliver a guest-worker
program that gives legalization first and then talks
to me later about decreasing illegal immigration. I
wouldn’t do that because I lost my leverage. It’s
all about leverage.
There’s a way to take Sen. Cornyn’s
proposal and make it more affordable and make it
more practical and get bipartisan support.
So is a trigger unacceptable?
Not when it’s deemed in the eyes of
our Democratic colleagues to be subject to political
manipulation or physically unachievable.
On the politics:
We need a bill because our
immigration system is so broken. But politically, if
the bill fails and Republicans are blamed in the
eyes of the public for not being practical it makes
it virtually impossible for us to win the White
House in 2016. But I’m not looking at if from that
point of view as much as we need to solve the
problem. Our Democratic colleagues, they proposed
immigration reform in 2009 and they didn’t deliver
so they need to step up and deliver.
Is there an impact on the 2014
congressional races?
It’s more a presidential issue. The
House politics aren’t effected too much by
demographics at the moment. Senate a little more so,
the White House dramatically. If you want to be a
congressional party, fine, but I’d like to be a part
of the party that can also win the White House.
What would it mean if you only got
60 cloture votes today?
It would be bad. If we get 61
votes, good luck getting it through the House. If we
get only a handful of [Senate] Republicans I think
it dies in the House, so it’s imperative that we get
close to half our conference not just today but at
the end of the day.
So are you optimistic it’s going to
pass?
Yes, because it’s a good bill that
can be made better, and from a political point of
view, I think most Republicans understand that we’ve
dug a hole and we need to get this immigration issue
off the table and behind us. And if we don’t, we
understand things will be bad.
What does South Carolina think?
Compared to last time [in 2007]
it’s radically different. I think people back home
understand that we’ve got to be practical. Not
everybody but most people back home get what I’m trying to do.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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