US Senate rejects several immigration reform proposals

– Path for ‘Dreamers’? –

The fate of the Dreamers has been uncertain since Trump scrapped the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program last September and gave Congress six months to legislate a solution.

Some 690,000 Dreamers who registered under DACA — plus 1.1 million others who were eligible but did not sign up — could begin to face deportation beginning March 5 if no deal is reached.

An administration official said that despite pending court cases, he did not believe there was legal authority for the administration to extend the deadline.

Senate Republican leaders had favored Trump’s proposal, but 16 Senate centrists unveiled a bipartisan approach that seemed to gain support.

– Impasse –

The bipartisan effort would have only made limited changes to family reunification, and would leave the diversity lottery untouched.

Trump has argued that extremists have abused the two programs in order to enter the country and kill Americans.

But Democrats panned Trump’s effort from the moment he unveiled it.

Even if it had passed the Senate, the bipartisan plan would have had a steep hill to climb in the House of Representatives, where several conservatives are opposed to any measure that gives “amnesty” to illegal immigrants.

With the Senate’s failure, the Republican-led House is likely to push for a vote on a hardline conservative immigration bill circulating in the chamber.

“If the House is going to wait for 60 senators to figure out an immigration bill first, we might as well all go home and take a nap,” House Republican Mark Meadows said on Twitter.