Immigration Reform Update

(Updated Below)

According to The Hill, the Senate will vote Monday on ending debate on an amendment offered Sen.  Leahy (D-VT) to the Senate immigration bill that bundles together a border security deal worked out by Sens. Bob Corker (R-TN) and John Hoeven (R-ND) with some other changes. I took a quick look at the amendment this morning (and you can too—here is the text), and, not surprisingly, the changes proposed by Sen. Rubio to the English requirement in the bill—or any of the other English language amendments offered so fardid not make it into this “omnibus”amendment.

That doesn’t mean that it still might not be offered, (I have no idea right now) but now that a border security deal has been struck, there is a big push to get this bill passed without further controversy by the end of the week, just before Senators leave for the July 4th recess.

Interestingly, the Corker-Hoeven deal isn’t just about border security: it includes a new Title, Title V, that creates a $1.5 billion “Jobs for Youth” program proposed by Sen. Sanders (I-VT). (See page 1183.)

UPDATE 06/24/13: Noah Bierman, in a story in today’s Boston Globe, confirms that the Rubio amendment is dead for now, but notes that a similar proposal will surely re-emerge at some point in the House:

Rubio’s proposal to require an English-language proficiency test earlier in the path to citizenship for illegal immigrants suffered a setback Friday, after Senate leaders did not include it in an agreement on another amendment to beef up border security.

But the issue of mandatory English testing and classes is expected to be raised again in the House, where the Republican majority has been chillier to an immigration overhaul that would allow a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.