Senate passes sweeping immigration reform

[DonViejo]

Source: WaPo

Senators approved sweeping legislation Thursday to remake the nation’s immigration system for the first time in a generation by spending tens of billions of dollars to bolster security along the U.S. southern border and offering a path to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants.

By a vote of 68 to 32, senators concluded a nearly month-long debate of the 1,200-page measure. To note the historic significance of the vote, Vice President Biden presided over the vote.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/senate-poised-to-approve-massive-immigration-bill/2013/06/27/87168096-df32-11e2-b2d4-ea6d8f477a01_story.html?hpid=z1

[pampango]

1. "Fourteen Republicans voted with every member of the Senate Democratic caucus to approve the bill."

That's 14 republicans whom the tea party will primary when they are up for reelection.

The Republican members voting in favor: Alexander, Ayotte, Chiesa, Collins, Corker, Flake, Graham, Hatch, Heller, Hoeven, Kirk, McCain, Murkowski, and Rubio.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/27/us-senate-immigration-reform-bill-live

[Berlin Expat]

2. Yep, and

if those 14 are successfully primaried by the Tea Party and replaced with Teahadis, you can count on about seven to ten of them losing, thereby increasing the D's share of the Senate.

[former9thward]

4. Flake is a TP favorite in AZ

McCain will not be primaried by anyone except publicity seekers (if he runs again).

[alp227]

6. Comments about those senators:

So BOTH Tennessee senators (Alexander and Corker) may get primaried. The Tea Party Express did not even endorse Corker when he was up for 2012 re-election.

Ditto with Arizona (Flake and McCain). But McCain has kept getting re-elected for decades despite his moderate reputation all the way til 2010. And Flake was endorsed by the Tea Party Express in 2012.

And speaking of Hoeven, Markos Moulisitas wrote an article for The Hill in 2010 detailing Hoeven's rather moderate politics as Governor of North Dakota. He was nonetheless a popular red-state governor who won landslide re-elections in 2004 and 2008 and 75% of the US Senate election in 2010 during the tea party revolution. In 2010, the Tea Party Express endorsed Hoeven for the senate.

Kelly Ayotte, Jeff Chiesa, and Susan Collins? OF COURSE a Northeast Republican is going to be dissed by the Tea Partiers! Remember in 2012 how the right wingers were trashing Romney? (Jeff Chiesa is the former Attorney General of New Jersey appointed by Gov. Chris Christie, much hated by the TPers, to replace the late Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg.) The TPE endorsed Ayotte but not Collins, and Ayotte got plenty of outraged words from the conservative radio host Howie Carr recently.

Orrin Hatch is going to be over 80 years old by the time his seat is next up for re-election and is most likely going to retire. Utah is a conservative state and will probably get another Mike Lee type in.

Lindsey Graham? I wonder how that guy managed to get elected in a super red state despite being rather moderate (he was part of the Gang of 14 back in 2005 and has been supporting of CIR). Just became of the R after his name? Go to right wing website they'll call him Graham Cracker, Goober Graham...yowza!

Dean Heller of Nevada? Another TPE-endorsed candidate in 2012.

Marco Rubio? From Tea Party rising star to turncoat, according to right wingers.

Mark Kirk? Isn't he a rather moderate guy too yet he got a Tea Party Express endorsement?

Remember Lisa Murkowski's write-in campaign that successfully knocked out Tea Partier Joe Miller back in 2010?

Keep in mind that Nevada, Arizona, Florida, and Utah all have significant Latino populations, and the Latino population in those states most likely influenced the republican senators from those states to go for the bill.

[hughee99]

12. People who aren't up in 2014 have plenty of time to pander to the necessary groups

to make up for this. Don't count on the teabaggers challenging them in primaries in 2016 or 2018.

[Iliyah]

3. But still the militarizing

the Mexican border is a bit much. Electric fences, drones, and other technology bs along with more border officers? Really.

GOP house will dig in their butts and suggest more awful ways of humiliating the Mexicans, but alas, they are so dumb that they will be screwing the Asians, Europeans and I already know they hate Africans and Middle Easterns as much as Latinos.

[LukeFL]

9. Agree. I can't believe Hispanics are

Not up in arms with this bill- at least Mexicans should be. It's such a racist bill- even Reagan's amnesty was better than this garbage.

[PaulKersey]

13. racist bill?

[LukeFL]

17. Because it is not going to help the

Last edited Sat Jul 6, 2013, 09:19 AM - Edit history (1)

Biggest group who come here. Applicants will have to wait 13 years to be considered to apply for citizenship and that is also if borders have been built-
I can assure you this is another way of GOP to suppress future voters - they KNOW Latinos are mostly A voting block for The Democratic Party. They want to at all cost prevent them from becoming citizens while asking then to work as slaves.

It's a bad bill.

[DCBob]

5. this bill has alot to like and dislike.

not sure what is going to happen in the House.

[LukeFL]

8. This bill is bad for minorities

I can't believe Dems voted for this. Hopefully it won't pass the house m- we win in 2014 and pelosi will create a more fair and humane bill

[cstanleytech]

18. Hmm they might have voted for it if they believe congress will kill it since congress is controlled

by a majority of republican nutjobs.

[Enrique]

7. "two key gang members"

At midday, two key gang members, Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) admitted they initially doubted whether their efforts would succeed.

[patrice]

10. I'm happy to have been with a Campaign for Citizenship group of about 200 who stood singing

in front of Senator Jerry Moran's office for about an hour last week.

They made me cry.

I have their sign in my front window now.

[madville]

11. It's DOA in the House

I think the House will pass a vastly different immigration bill and the two chambers will have a tough time coming together in conference to pass a compromise that can pass a vote on both sides.

[PaulKersey]

14. why the rush to pass a bill?

[okasha]

15. This is a horrible bill.

The so-called border security measures will further degrade the environment on the border, where the BP has already done significant damage. If the people who support this bill want a wall to protect them from immigrants, let them build it around their own cities.

[protect our future]

16. Excellent and informative discussion. Thanks, DonViejo.