Colorado’s two senators are from different parties, but they’ve come together on a possible solution to the immigration stalemate in Washington.
Senators Cory Gardner and Michael Bennet worked with four other lawmakers on a bill that gives “dreamers” a pathway to citizenship.
The plan includes bi-partisan compromises, such as preventing DACA recipients from sponsoring family members to enter the country, allocating more than $1.5 billion for a border wall, and granting visas based on merit – not a lottery system.
“Colorado is seeing this slow motion train wreck play out”, said Gardner, “and what we’re trying to do is gather – Republican, Democrat, two senators from the same state. We agree on a lot, we’re gonna disagree on things, but the fact is we’re both here to do this work, to get our job done, to address a very serious immigration issue in a way that the president can support and can sign, in a way Republicans and Democrats can agree to it, to get the job done for our budget, our funding of government.”
Bennet and Gardner say Congress shouldn’t be allowed to leave Washington until it passes the bill and funds the government, avoiding a shutdown.
“We’ve done the work, the legislation is introduced”, said Bennet. “From my point of view, having sat through four months of negotiations, I have a pretty good sense of what the gives and takes have been. Washington will always look for an excuse not to act. I think we should act.”
There are an estimated 16,000 dreamers just in Colorado.
