Senate

Schumer: Senate must take lead on immigration agreement

by Jordain Carney - 01/24/18 11:39 AM ET

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on Wednesday the Senate must take the lead on crafting an immigration deal, and threw his support behind a bipartisan group involved in the talks.

“The Senate must find consensus. For that reason, we must start from a new place. My negotiations with the president shouldn’t dictate talks here on the Hill. That was then, this is now,” he said from the Senate floor.

“The Senate is now in the spotlight,” he added.

{mosads}Schumer offered to put the U.S.-Mexico border wall on the table for discussion during a meeting with Trump last week. But he said on Tuesday he had retracted that offer after the president walked away from an agreement.

Lawmakers are now on the hunt for an immigration plan that could win over 60 votes. If they aren’t able to reach a deal by Feb. 8, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has promised to bring the issue to the floor.

A bipartisan group of senators was expected to meet on Wednesday, amid little clarity about the path forward.

That meeting is expected to include Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) — the No. 2 members in both parties. Cornyn said on Wednesday that they would serve as a “clearinghouse” for ideas.

Durbin said he was “heartened” that senators from both sides are getting together.

We are starting “what we hope will be a productive process to reach a bipartisan agreement and do it in a timely way, as suggested. … We understand we have to be mindful of one another and the realities we face,” he said.

Tags Charles Schumer Chuck Schumer Dick Durbin Dick Durbin Immigration John Cornyn Mitch McConnell negotiations