WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) joined 12 of his Senate colleagues in a letter to Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), urging a bipartisan approach to addressing our broken immigration system and border security.
“We write regarding the pressing border security and immigration needs facing our country. As we have shown, Democrats and Republicans can work together on real bipartisan solutions,” the senators wrote. “We can solve big challenges when we work together, and there is much work to do to improve border security, protect Dreamers and farmworkers, and fix our immigration system to better reflect the needs of our country and our modern economy.”
In addition to Senator Coons, the letter is signed by Senators Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Angus King (I-Maine), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), and Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.).
A member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Coons has long supported comprehensive bipartisan immigration reform and supported the Lankford-Sinema-Murphy deal negotiated last Congress that would have been the toughest new immigration law in decades. However, the bill failed to advance under heavy opposition from then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. As President Trump returns to Washington, the senators stress that bipartisan cooperation is necessary to craft and advance meaningful and long-lasting solutions.
The senators continued, “We understand that Senate Republicans have discussed using the budget reconciliation process to advance border security budget measures without any Democratic input. While that’s your right, in working together on a bipartisan basis, we can achieve the best outcome for the American people. There are also limitations to what can be done under budget reconciliation, and as we’ve seen time and time again, no party has all the solutions on this or any issue.”
At the conclusion of the letter, Senator Coons and his colleagues emphasize their willingness to work with their Republican counterparts on legislation that can pass the Senate.
“We remain ready to work with you in good faith to craft legislation that can achieve bipartisan support and 60 votes in the Senate. While there will be challenges, addressing the pressing needs of our nations’ borders and finding bipartisan solutions to our outdated immigration system are too important to ignore in the 119th Congress,” the senators wrote.
You can read the full letter here.
