Senators shoot down bipartisan immigration bill Trump had threatened to veto

Senators hold conference on immigration reform.

(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

published 15 February 2018

Both Republican and Democratic senators voted Thursday to reject consideration of a bipartisan immigration proposal put together by the so-called "Common Sense Coalition," The New York Times reports. The vote was 54-45, leaving the legislation six votes short of the 60 votes it needed to be considered.

The bill, titled the Immigration Security and Opportunity Act, would have offered a 10-year path to citizenship for DREAMers — young immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children — as well as $25 billion over a decade for border security. It would also have curbed family-based immigration, but would not have ended the visa lottery program. President Trump had publicly opposed the bill.

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Trump has informally threatened to veto a bipartisan bill that would just tackle border security and DREAMers, calling it a "dangerous policy that will harm the nation."

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.