Some Dems Could Be Barrier to Immigration Reform
A handful opposed efforts in 2007
While much of the attention for the success or failure of bipartisan immigration reform is centered on the reaction of Senate and House conservatives, quite a few Senate Democrats are content to play the waiting game even as President Barack Obama barnstorms for legislation.
There are nine Democratic members of the upper chamber who voted against the last immigration package: a 2007 bill pushed by the Bush administration and supported by the majority of the Democratic Caucus.
Several, like labor supporters Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Tom Harkin of Iowa, ended up opposing the bill — in part because of provisions in the guest worker program and what they saw as a lack of protections for low-wage earners. Others, like Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Max Baucus of Montana and Mark Pryor of Arkansas, hail from states where support for a pathway to citizenship might not sit well with voters. Sens. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, Jon Tester of Montana and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan also opposed the bill.
Hide Comments (0)
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post commentsMute this user?
Ban this user?
Un-ban this user?
Nuke this user?
Un-nuke this user?
Flag this comment?
Un-flag this comment?