Thanks to everyone who contacted the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday regarding amendments to the immigration reform bill. The first hearing to consider amendments to the bill is behind us and we have good news to share. Many of the amendments that LIRS supported were passed! We applaud the senators who voted to better welcome migrants and refugees.
Here’s a quick tally of how the amendments we alerted you to yesterday fared:
• WITHDRAWN– Senator Coons’ Amendment #2 to prohibit dangerous practices that endanger migrants who are deported at the US/Mexico border.
• PASSED– Senator Hirono’s Amendment #23 to protect families from being separated and to consider the best interest of children during apprehensions at the US/Mexico border.
• PASSED– Senator Feinstein’s Amendment #6 to keep children safe while in Border Patrol custody.
• WITHDRAWN– Senator Feinstein’s Amendment #11 to reduce the definition of the Border Region from 100 miles to 25 miles to reduce the area where drone and video surveillance can be operated.
• PASSED– Senator Blumenthal’s Amendment #10 to prevent reimbursing state and local governments with federal funds for enforcement actions resulting from a violation of the law by a law enforcement official.
• Nearly all of the most concerning amendments introduced by Senator Grassley and Senator Sessions DID NOT PASS. The exception was Senator Grassley’s Amendment #1, which applies border security strategies in the bill to all border sectors nationwide.
The Senate Judiciary Committee will be back in session on Tuesday. Check back with us then for another update. You can also keep tabs on the latest immigration reform developments by reading our Monday updates from Hill experts.