March 16, 2006

So Many Amendments, So Little Time: An Incomplete Mark-Up?

The introduction of hundreds of amendments has impacted the mark-up process. With so many amendments being offered to the Chairman’s Mark, it is very unlikely that the entire comprehensive immigration reform bill will be mark-ed up. What this means is that many of the critical issues, including the undocumented currently within our nation’s borders and the proposed guest worker program, may not be debated. Moreover, Senator Frist has given the Judiciary Committee until March 27 to produce a Senate bill on comprehensive immigration reform. This ‘deadline’ seems to be hard and fast. Therefore, Sections and Titles that do not get marked-up will either be dealt with on the Senate floor or in the context of the introduction of Senator Frist’s enforcement bill. Chairman Specter requested that Committee members reach out to Leader Frist and ask him to allow the committee more time to work on the immigration legislation.

Next Steps: Continue to Take Action

We need to continue to contact Senators on the Judiciary Committee and commend them on their work on comprehensive immigration reform legislation thus far and urge them to go to Senator Frist and request additional time. We also believe that we all should reach out to our members and ask them to contact Senator Frist and request that he do the right thing and let the committee do its work.