GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine says Congress has "other issues" to debate besides immigration.
We could see this coming from a mile away: Now that the House GOP crazy caucus squandered an entire month trying to scuttle President Obama's immigration actions, wiser members of the GOP don't want to touch anything related to immigration anytime soon. Certainly not measures designed to block Obama's DAPA/DACA programs (Deferred Action for Parent Accountability/Childhood Arrivals), and not even perennial GOP favorites like beefing up border security or finding ways to verify the legality of workers. Here's more from
Burgess Everett and Seung Min Kim:
[F]ew within the GOP expect any kind of immigration debate in the Senate in the foreseeable future. The issue has been relegated to the back burner as Republicans instead focus on the budget, trade deals and, possibly, tax reform.
“At this point, we have a lot of other issues to do,” said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who authored stand-alone legislation to block Obama’s immigration directives. “I’m very happy the Department of Homeland Security is funded, and I think the issue of the president’s overreach with his executive order of last November is probably going to end up being decided by the courts. And that’s not a bad option.”
Even some GOP firebrands in the Senate appear leery of pushing an issue that amounts to an intractable political disaster for Republicans on all sides—they can't possibly satisfy the right wingers even as they totally alienate Latino voters.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who endorsed the Collins strategy during the immigration battle, accused the GOP leadership last week of “capitulating on amnesty” and encouraging McConnell to block a confirmation vote on attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch. But Cruz would not say whether he wants leadership to return to the Collins proposal.
“You’d have to ask them that,” he demurred.
None of this leaves room for even considering a more proactive piece of legislation to actually fix the immigration system. Right now, Senate Republicans have settled on a strategy of simply trying to avoid more self-inflicted wounds.
Meanwhile, House committee chairs continue to work away at measures that may never see the light of day. But hey, they've got to do something, they're in the majority.