While there have been many soft timelines set by analysts and observers on when a comprehensive immigration reform bill would be done, the latest time frame from the Senate would have an actual bill on the table by the time Congress returns from its April recess.
New York Senator Chuck Schumer, one of the Senate’s “Gang of Eight,” said on Wednesday that his group is currently “on track” to have a bill for mark up by April 8, when Congress returns from recess. He made the remarks as he and three senators toured border control facilities in Arizona. Once a bill is proposed, the terms of the proposal would then be debated and modified by the Senate.
President Obama is confident that if the Senate does indeed have a bill proposed by early April, that the U.S. could have a substantially improved immigration system by late summer, telling Telemundo:
If we have a bill introduced at the beginning of next month as these senators indicate it will be, then I’m confident that we can get it done certainly before the end of the summer.
I think we’ve seen enormous progress over the last month and a half. I think both sides, Democrats and Republicans, have been very serious about the negotiations. I’m actually very optimistic that when they return in early April that we’ll see a bill ready to move through the process.
Schumer’s remarks came a day after fellow “Gang of Eight” member John McCain said that there can be no guarantee of a deal in the coming weeks.
The momentum is clearly on the side of passing new, commonsense immigration policy. The time is now – we need to keep the pressure on our elected officials to pass reform so that by the end of summer, families can reunite and 11 million Americans can come out of the shadows.
