Senate Democrats defeated the first of hundreds of expected amendments conservative Republicans plan to put forth to defang or delay the bipartisan immigration bill currently being considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Republican Chuck Grassley of Iowa proposed an amendment to the bill that would require the border to be completely secure for six months before any undocumented immigrants could apply for American citizenship, a requirement vague and unrealistic enough to effectively scrap the entire bill.
"The triggers in the bill that kick off legalization are weak," said Grassley. "No one can dispute that this bill is legalization first, enforcement later," he said, referring to the path to citizenship for many of the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country, the main goal of the bill in the first place.
Grassley didn't expect to win, but as the highest-ranked Republican on the Judiciary Committee, the move allowed him to demonstrate his willingness to drag out the process as long as possible.
Indeed, Grassley isn't the only Republican willing to make that apparent. In its current form, the immigration bill allows the Department of Homeland Security, which includes the Border Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to make the determination that the border is secure.
Mike Lee of Utah introduced an amendment that would delegate that responsibility to Congress. The Republican majority on the House of Representatives guarantees the border would never be certified secure, whatever the situation on the ground.
That amendment was defeated, as were additional attempts by Republicans to make the requirements of the bill too onerous to be practical.
Ted Cruz of Texas tried to require a tripling of border control agents and a quadrupling of equipment on the border, despite the usual Republican calls for fiscal responsibility. Jeff Sessions of Alabama proposed 700 miles of additional fencing on the border.
Democrats will be introducing their own amendments next week, including a contentious one that would guarantee the rights of undocumented immigrants regardless of sexual orientation.