Senate

Flake pitches immigration compromise

by Jordain Carney - 02/13/18 7:34 AM ET

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) is pitching his own immigration plan as the Senate struggles to find a proposal that can win over 60 votes.

Flake, who is retiring after this Congress, is expected to file an amendment as soon as Tuesday that would address the “four pillars” of President Trump’s immigration proposal, according to a summary of the proposal obtained by The Hill.

Similar to the White House framework, it would include a 10- to 12-year path to citizenship for roughly 1.8 million undocumented immigrants brought into the country as children in exchange for $25 billion in border security funding.

{mosads}It would place new limits on family-based immigration, barring “Dreamers” from being able to sponsor their parents for legal status and limiting overall sponsorship for family-based visas to spouses and children.

Flake’s plan would redirect those visas to clearing the backlog of people currently waiting for a visa and then split any leftovers between immigrants with advanced degrees or skilled workers.

It would also eliminate the State Department’s diversity visa lottery. Instead, 25,000 visas would be given for employment-based immigration, with another 25,000 given to the family-based immigration backlog.

Though Flake’s measure addresses the four pillars prioritized by Trump and a bipartisan group of lawmakers — a fix for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, border security, and changes to family-based immigration and the diversity lottery — it doesn’t go as far as a conservative measure filed Monday.

That plan, spearheaded by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), is meant to mirror the White House framework and includes tougher interior enforcement, but it is unlikely to get the support of Democrats.

Flake’s new proposal is also a pivot closer to the party’s priorities compared to a Gang of Six bill floated last month and quickly rejected by Trump.

Flake’s new plan comes as the Senate is struggling to find a deal on immigration that could get 60 votes.

Trump kicked the fight to Congress when he announced last year he was ending DACA, which allows undocumented immigrants brought into the country illegally as children to work and go to school.

Trump warned on Tuesday that the current negotiations represent the “last chance.”

“Republicans want to make a deal and Democrats say they want to make a deal. Wouldn’t it be great if we could finally, after so many years, solve the DACA puzzle. This will be our last chance, there will never be another opportunity! March 5th,” he said.

Flake is also preparing a “failsafe” proposal that would pair a three-year extension of DACA with border security.

Tags Chuck Grassley Donald Trump Jeff Flake