Senate Immigration Bill Advances; Senator Leahy Files Gay Couples Amendment

Today the so-called "Gang of Eight" immigration reform bill advanced and received a wide thumbs up vote in the U. S. Senate.  Politico describes it this way:

The Senate on Tuesday overwhelmingly agreed to launch a major effort to rewrite U.S. immigration laws, setting the stage for weeks of debate on securing the nation’s borders, legalizing undocumented residents and modernizing the country’s immigration system.

Senators voted 82-15 to move forward on the Gang of Eight immigration bill; 60 votes were needed for passage. All 15 votes against the motion were from Republicans. The bill cleared a second procedural vote later Tuesday.

The overwhelming bipartisan vote gives the Gang of Eight room to negotiate, but finding an acceptable approach to tightening border security is emerging as major challenge for the bipartisan coalition.

Part of the negotiation process will be about including same sex bi-national couples with the same immigration rights as married heterosexual couples.  To make sure this happens, Senator Patrick Leahy filed an amendment for this purpose.  Here are highlights from Politico on the ammendment:

 

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy is trying again on immigration and gay rights.

The Vermont Democrat filed an amendment to the Gang of Eight immigration bill on Tuesday that would allow gay U.S. citizens to petition their foreign spouses to become permanent residents. He had withdrawn the measure after an emotional debate during the committee markup, after several Democrats said they would vote against his amendment in order to preserve the overall bill.

Seeking equal protection under our laws for the LGBT community is the right thing to do,” Leahy said in a statement Tuesday. “I withheld my anti-discrimination amendment during the Senate Judiciary Committee markup. As the entire Senate turns to debate the immigration bill, the fight for equality must go on.”

It is unclear whether Leahy’s proposal will get a vote. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have yet to reach an agreement on amendments.

And the political dynamics for Leahy’s amendment are different on the floor. In the committee, the amendment would have required just a simple majority for it to pass. On the floor, it will almost certainly need 60 votes.

If Democrats do not support the Leahy amendment, in my view, they need to pay a price in terms of votes and money.  I seem to be on every national level Democrat committee donor mailing list known to man and I am now routinely reply to ask for money with a statement that (i) no money will be forth coming until gays are covered under the immigration reform act and Obama signs an ENDA executive order for federal employees and (ii) please remove me from the mailing list.   The boyfriend and I are supporting state level candidates - a McAuliffe staffer has been living in our home for a month now - but the Democrats at the federal level can kiss my ass until they put blather into actual action.  They don't get it that "support" is a two way street.