Hundreds of Amendments to S.744 Submitted

Today was the deadline for the Senate Judiciary Committee to submit proposed amendments to the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act and more than two hundred such amendments were filed.  Though several amendments were filed to expand upon the original bill (notably, immigration benefits for same-sex couples), the amendment process represented reform opponents’ first real opportunity to attack the bill.  Republican Chuck Grassley of Iowa filed seventy-seven amendments; Republican Jeff Sessions of Alabama filed forty-nine; and Republican Mike Lee of Utah another twenty-three.  Debate in the committee will begin this month and the end result will indicate whether the bipartisan “Gang of 8” that drafted the original bill can maintain their coalition and produce a bill that stands of chance of passage.