The Senate voted to close debate on the bi-partisan immigration reform proposal by a wide margin, 67 voting in favor. While there is no guarantee that a Senator that voted to close debate will vote for the bill (or vice versa), everyone expects the bill to pass the Senate this week – likely Friday.
This does not mean immigration reform will become law. But it does set the major provisions of the bill as a starting point.
It is possible the House will take up the Senate bill, but very unlikely. Still if the House votes on something - even piecemeal – regarding immigration reform, that version will then be taken to conference for negotiations with the Senate version.
We are analyzing the most recent changes – which were numerous. Some parts are good and some are bad, like most legislation. We will provide more details soon.
The two biggest take-aways from this vote:
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Immigration reform is not a sure thing. No one should pay anyone to apply under the new law yet. There is no new law.
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You still have time to weigh in on immigration reform. If it is good for you, your family or your business, you should let your Members of Congress know. Senator Grassley is particularly important to the debate and he continues to oppose reform. If parts of the bill are unacceptable and will hurt you, your family or your business, you should let them know that too.
This is another big step in the difficult path to reform.
