Senate reprieve for highly contested border bill

John Cornyn (R), Y

Ted Cruz (R), N

[ FOR AJC ]

HOW THEY VOTED

Senators voted 63-33 to advance to debate a Democratic version of a measure to provide funds to deal with the influx of unaccomapanied young immigrants across the Texas border. A different, Republican version is pending in the House.

Johnny Isakson (R), Y

Saxby Chambliss (R), Y

[ FOR CMGO ]

HOW THEY VOTED

Senators voted 63-33 to advance to debate a Democratic version of a measure to provide funds to deal with the influx of unaccomapanied young immigrants across the Texas border. A different, Republican version is pending in the House.

Sherrod Brown (D), Y

Rob Portman (R), N

[ FOR PBP ]

HOW THEY VOTED

Senators voted 63-33 to advance to debate a Democratic version of a measure to provide funds to deal with the influx of unaccomapanied young immigrants across the Texas border. A different, Republican version is pending in the House.

Bill Nelson (D), Y

Marco Rubio (R), Y

A bill to deal with the immigration surge on the U.S.-Mexico border won a temporary reprieve in the Senate on Wednesday as lawmakers maneuvered to offer a response to the crisis before adjourning for the summer.

Senators voted 63-33 to advance the $3.5 billion emergency spending bill over an initial procedural hurdle. But with Republicans and a few of the majority Democrats opposed and only days left before Congress’ annual August recess, there is little expectation that the legislation will ultimately prevail.

Even if it does, the Senate bill is at odds with a competing measure in the Republican-majority House. It has a smaller price tag and includes immigration policy changes, opposed by many Democrats, that the GOP says would send the migrants home more quickly. That measure drew a veto threat Wednesday from the White House.

Republicans likewise reject the Senate measure, calling it a blank check for President Barack Obama’s failed immigration policies. The bill also includes hundreds of millions of dollars to fight western wildfires and $225 million in military aid for Israel, though lawmakers are making plans to deal with the money for Israel separately.

Despite their deep disagreements, Republicans and Democrats alike said the crisis of tens of thousands of unaccompanied Central American youths crossing illegally into South Texas demands a response. Some Republicans voted in favor of moving the Senate bill forward , saying they wanted to open debate on the measure in order to be able to offer amendments, even if the Democrats were likely to shoot them down .

“My constituents back home don’t understand why in the world we would leave without fixing this problem,” said Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, one of 11 Republicans who voted to proceed with the bill. “If we don’t do anything to deal with the causes or deal with a remedy for this growing humanitarian crisis, it’s going to get worse.”

Two red-state Democrats in tough re-election fights — Sens. Kay Hagan of North Carolina and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana — voted against allowing the measure to move forward.

The bill includes $2.7 billion for more immigration judges, detention facilities, enforcement measures and other steps to deal with the deluge of youths who have been crossing the Rio Grande into Texas without their parents or visas. It does not include legal changes to permit authorities to turn unaccompanied Central American youths around at the border without deportation hearings — a GOP proposal that Democrats say would send the children back to countries racked by gang violence.

House Republican are hoping to act as early as today on their own $659 million measure. It would include the policy changes to make deportations easier and would also dispatch National Guard troops to the border.

Although the White House has backed legal changes to speed deportations, it has said the House legislation “could make the situation worse, not better” by setting arbitrary timelines that could create backlogs and hamper due process.

It is unclear whether House Speaker John Boehner will be able to count on enough support to pass the bill. Tea party-backed Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas summoned House conservatives to a meeting Wednesday night to strategize, contending that no bill should pass unless it repeals a two-year-old Obama directive granting work permits to immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid stirred conservative concerns by threatening to use the House bill as a vehicle to attach the Senate’s comprehensive immigration overhaul bill, which the House has rejected.

More than 57,000 unaccompanied minors have arrived since October, mostly from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. The Homeland Security Department says that without additional funds, overwhelmed border agencies will be running out of money in coming months.