Senate begins voting on immigration bills

The Senate is beginning votes on a series of immigration bills Thursday. As Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, put it, “Whoever gets to 60 (votes) wins.”

Time is running out for Congress to reach a solution on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, before it ends March 5. Senators have proposed a variety of solutions. But President Trump and his senior administration officials have said the president has four demands — anything he signs must include a solution for young immigrants brought to the country illegally, funding for the border wall and border security, and provisions to end extended family-based “chain migration” and the diversity visa lottery program. 

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Vote that would advance McCains-Coons bill fails

A vote on cloture that would have advanced a bill from Sens. John McCain, R-Arizona, and Sen. Chris Coons, D-Delaware, failed to receive enough support just before 3 p.m. 

Graham says immigration votes will “crash and burn”

Sen. Lindsey Graham, speaking to reporters Thursday afternoon, predicted that all of the bills introduced Thursday will fail. 

“We’re going to fail today most likely and whether or not we go forward depends on presidential leadership,” he said.

“After this crash and burn experience we will do one of two things. We’ll reconfigure the process to be able to get us to a yes position where 70 percent of Americans reside by the way or we’ll do what’s happened for the last 35 years, punt…” he said.