As the debate on immigration reform prepares to shift into another gear, members of the bipartisan U.S. Senate panel that crafted the bill have opted to speak with a group of conservative GOP House representatives about immigration reform to bridge the gap in communication between both sides.
According to CBS News, Republican members of the "Gang of Eight" including Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.; Mike Lee, R-Utah; Jeff Flake. R-Ariz.; Rand Paul, R-Ky.; and Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., are planning to meet Wednesday with their House conservative counterparts to discuss the immigration reform proposal currently on the table in Washington that will include a pathway to citizenship for millions of immigrants living illegally in the U.S. and boosted security at the border.
The issue of the pathway to citizenship has been both the key piece and the main point of contention on the bill, which has divided the Republicans, some of which are still not sold on immigration reform.
While proponents within the Republican Party feel that coming around on immigration reform will help the party win points with immigrant voters--particularly the Latino voters who rejected the GOP vehemently at the presidential polls in November--others have argued that the bill is tantamount to "amnesty."
With the bill having passed a somewhat contentious process at the Senate Judiciary Committee, the debate is expected to heat up when it comes before the Senate and House floor this summer. However, there are those who fear that Republicans in Congress will attempt to stall the bill.
On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said that Senate Republicans were threatening to delay immigration reform due to a disagreement over the nuclear option, which is changing the Senate rules with a simple majority vote. Democrats in the Senate are considering stripping Republicans of the power to filibuster executive and judicial branch nominees, according to The Hill.com.
President Obama nominated three judges to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Tuesday, all of which Republicans are opposed to, prompting the president to accuse them of obstructionism.
According to Reid, Senate Republican Mitch McConnell issued a veiled threat that the GOP could hold up immigration reform if the Democrats, which hold a majority vote in the Senate, attempt to invoke the nuclear option on President Obama's judicial picks. GOP members say Sen. Reid swore not to use the nuclear option earlier in the year.
"I was a little concerned this morning to see what my Republican counterpart said and, just so there's no misunderstanding, here's what he said: 'It will be important for the Senate to understand before we go much further here, just what the majority leader's intentions are,' " Reid told reporters. "I guess that's a threat that he's not going to move forward on immigration reform.
"I was terribly disturbed to hear him say this. [It] threatens to hold up this bill over completely unrelated matters to fixing our broken immigration system," Reid added.
While Sen. McConnell has previously pledged to vote to go forward with the immigration bill, Democrats are wary that Republicans may block immigration reform as retaliation for their consideration of using the nuclear option.
"If your word doesn't mean anything around here, we need to know that and we need to know it now and I asked him again this morning if he intends to keep his word to the Senate and the American people," said McConnell. "I'm going to ask him again in the morning."