Sen. Durbin Says Amnesty Bill Unrealistic Amid Border Crisis

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill) said that he does not believe there is a realistic way for congress to pass an amnesty deal for illegal immigrants.

“Well, I don’t see. I don’t see a means of reaching it,” Durbin said when asked about a pathway to citizenship. “I want it. And I think we are much more likely to deal with discrete elements.”

He added that a comprehensive bill would not have enough support in the Democrat-controlled House. He said, “I think Speaker Pelosi has discovered that she doesn’t have support for the comprehensive bill in the House. And I think that indicates where it is in the Senate as well.”

In order to pass the bill, the Senate would need 60 votes to overcome a likely filibuster. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) told reporters recently that he does not believe a bipartisan solution was realistic while the current border crisis is not controlled and Democrats continue to “move the goalposts.”

“I’m on record saying I’d like to find a permanent solution to the DACA recipients,” Cornyn said. “The problem is every time we try to meet the Democrats halfway, they move the goalposts.”

He then pointed to the situation at the border now. “Unless there is some way to bring some control and order to that situation, I think it makes it very hard to do other things on a bipartisan basis,” Cornyn said. “That’s one of the casualties of the failure to think ahead of time. If you’re going to reverse Trump policies, what’s your plan? Well, they didn’t have a plan. Other than to say, ‘don’t come now’ when all the other signals are, you know, ‘come on in. If you can get here, you’re going to stay.”

Migrant facilities at the border are overwhelmed, with one facility reaching 729% of its capacity. In order to decide on a bill for pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants already in the United States, the border would need to be secured as pathway to citizenship discussions incentivized more illegal immigration.