Durbin: Majority of Senate will support DACA deal
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said on Wednesday evening that a bipartisan immigration agreement has the support of a majority of the Senate.
“The math is simple. We have 56 senators ready to move forward with this issue,” he said.
Four GOP senators signed onto the “Gang of Six” proposal. In addition to GOP Sens. Linsey Graham (S.C.), Cory Gardner (Colo.) and Jeff Flake (Ariz.) — who negotiated the deal — that brings the total number of Senate Republicans supporting the agreement to seven.
Durbin’s remarks would mean that he’s gotten the support of the entire 49-member Democratic caucus. {mosads}
That would require winning over red-state Democrats up for reelection next year as well as progressives and potential 2020 hopefuls, many of whom have pressed for a “clean” immigration bill.
A spokesman for Durbin didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment confirming the No. 2 Democrat had received the support of every member of his caucus.
Asked earlier Wednesday if he thought he would be able to bring every Democrat on board, Durbin indicated that he thought they would.
But 56 supporters still leaves the bill short of the 60 votes that are likely going to be needed to overcome a filibuster. It also doesn’t have the support of GOP leadership or President Trump — which Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has made a condition to getting a floor vote.
Supporters of the bill — including Durbin, Flake, Graham, and Democratic Sens. Michael Bennet (Colo.) and Bob Menendez (N.J.) — pressed Senate leadership to bring up their bill in back-to-back floor speeches.
“I do believe that we have a proposal that can get 60 votes. … That’s what this bill is designed to do. In the end, that’s what it’s going to take, 60 votes,” Flake said.
He added that “if we’re waiting for the White House to come to us with a proposal that they can support, we’re likely waiting for a long time. … We have a proposal here that can garner enough support to pass the Senate. So let’s move on with it.”
Durbin, referring to the higher 60-vote threshold, argued that the other four votes “are there.”
The bipartisan deal would tie a fix for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that includes a path to citizenship with more than $2.7 billion in border security, an elimination of the Diversity Visa Lottery and changes to family-based immigration.
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