This Issue: Attempt to kill filibuster falls short, ending another immediate threat for a mass amnesty

Democratic Senators Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) and Joe Manchin (W.Va.) joined Republicans this week in killing a special filibuster carveout for voting rights legislation. The filibuster requires most legislation considered by the Senate to receive 60 votes instead of a simple majority to pass.

NumbersUSA doesn't take a position on the overall Senate filibuster rule. But while the filibuster carveout drafted by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) would have only affected voting rights legislation, we at NumbersUSA were concerned that any special filibuster carveouts could eventually expand to immigration legislation, including a mass amnesty for millions of illegal aliens.

In fact, Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who is the second ranking Senate Democrat and the most active Democratic Senator on the issue, said this week that he favors lifting filibuster rules for immigration legislation.

"I've lost the Dream Act five times to a cloture vote," he said, referring to legislation granting legal status and a pathway to citizenship to immigrants who came illegally to the country at a young age.

"Yes, I think in the area of human and civil rights there should be exceptions" to the Senate's current filibuster rule, he said.

But Sinema's and Manchin's consistent opposition to eliminating the legislative filibuster ends one possible route that pro-amnesty advocates have been pushing Democrats to use to pass a mass amnesty.

BUILD BACK BETTER ON LIFE SUPPORT

There was some chatter this week among Senate Democrats to revive Pres. Joe Biden's Build Back Better legislation, which Democrats hope to pass by using the budget reconciliation process. The House-passed legislation includes an amnesty for approximately 8 million illegal aliens.

The budget reconciliation process allows legislation to pass through the Senate without meeting the 60-vote filibuster threshold, but provisions in the legislation must pertain to budgetary matters. The Senate parliamentarian has considered three different amnesty proposals submitted by Senate Democrats, saying each one would violate Senate rules.

But pro-amnesty advocates are calling on Senate Democrats to ignore the parliamentarian and keep the mass amnesty in what may be a scaled down Build Back Better package.

Earlier this week, National Immigration Law Center executive director Marielena Hincapie told Roll Call that she's calling on Democrats to overrule the parliamentarian.

"It became very clear literally within hours that we are all aligned on ensuring that the way to make sure that we get reform done this year -- in 2022 now -- is still through the Build Back Better, through the reconciliation process," Hincapie said. "And the path toward that is absolutely by disregarding the parliamentarian."

While we'll continue to follow these developments closely, it doesn't appear that there are enough votes to eliminate the filibuster or overrule the parliamentarian, so I'm pleased to suggest that any immediate threat from amnesty is over. Thanks for all your help in getting to this point.

CHRIS Chmielenski NumbersUSA Deputy Director