Defense & Homeland Security

Sen. Angus King: There is an ‘obvious’ deal to be made on immigration

Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) said on Sunday that there is an “obvious” deal to be made between Republicans and Democrats over border security and immigration reform.

“To me, there is an obvious deal on immigration,” King said on CBS’s “Face The Nation” with Margaret Brennan. “The deal is increased border security, a path to citizenship for Dreamers… and we’ve got to work on legal immigration for workforce.”

King floated the idea of a compromise between the parties as President Biden is slated to visit the southern border for the first time since he entered the White House. King said that while he thought Biden should have made the trip sooner, he was “delighted” he decided to visit the border.

“Let’s work on this because we can’t have the chaos and the humanitarian crisis that we have,” King said. “We ought to be able to move in a bipartisan way.”

King also reflected on the last two years of Congress, arguing it has been one of the most effective sessions in the last few decades. He said lawmakers should look to the previous Congress as a model for getting key legislative goals, including immigration, through the House and Senate.

“I think immigration is a great opportunity to do the same thing.”