An Immigration Measure Republicans Could Get Behind

Published on Wed, Jul 21, 2010

Mary Giovagnoli, director of the Immigration Policy Center, said that bipartisan support for the bill has been much harder to achieve this year. In addition to pressure leading up to the midterm elections, she said, "there seems to have really been a sense that one of the most effective ways to undermine the Obama administration was just to be pretty negative or to block pretty much anything that was seen as an administration priority -- and immigration falls into that category. In some ways, I think the fight for the soul of the Republican party is being fought out on immigration issues."

But if Congress cannot muster the force for comprehensive immigration reform, Giovagnoli thinks the DREAM Act could have a good shot at passing on its own. In addition to Lugar, she identified "easily ten" Republican senators whom she believes could be convinced to support the bill.

Published in the Atlantic | Read Article