DREAMERS/IMMIGRATION/POLITICS: “The immigration debate that begins Monday [2-12-18] in the Senate promises to be the rarest of things in Washington: a freewheeling, open-ended battle over one of the thorniest subjects, with the expected outcome completely unclear.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) will begin debate on a shell bill that has no immigration provisions, to be filled in with senators’ amendments. The process could take days or weeks, depending on the number of amendments offered and the amount of time Mr. McConnell wishes to devote to a single policy area.
It is rare these days for a bill to come to the floor that doesn’t have built-in support from the majority party; even rarer still one that is essentially an empty vessel—to be filled with the ideas of whichever group of senators can come up with the needed votes.
The primary goal for many senators is to protect young people brought to the U.S. illegally as children, who will soon lose Obama-era protections. But the lawmakers will consider a wide range of other ideas aimed at combating illegal immigration and overhauling the system of legal immigration.”
-Laura Meckler and Siobhan Hughes, “Immigration to Get Freewheeling Debate in the Senate,” The Wall Street Journal online, Feb. 12, 2018 08:49am