A day after a half-dozen Republican senators urged a slower and more public process for the crafting of immigration legislation, a key Democrat said that the timeline for completion of a bill will be delayed because closed-door negotiations have yet to produce a draft.
In a statement, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy lamented that his goal of completing a tentative version of a comprehensive reform bill by April won’t be met.
“Because we do not yet have legislative language to debate, the Senate Judiciary Committee will not be able to report a comprehensive immigration bill by the end of April, which was my goal,” Leahy said.
Leahy said that he has asked the White House to release its own version of reform legislation “for months” but that President Barack Obama has deferred to the bipartisan “Gang of Eight,” which is working on compromise legislation.
That group, Leahy wrote, has “engaged in secret, closed door discussions on their own proposal and … committed to completing it by the beginning of March. That deadline and others have come and gone.”
The chairman’s statement comes a day after a group of Republican senators urged a slower process for the reform effort, writing to Leahy that the legislative language could present a “real problem” if it comes to the floor without being discussed in open committee hearings.
"If we are serious about protecting our national interest and the best interests of American workers, we must provide all members of the Senate, and, most importantly, the public, a full and fair opportunity to become adequately informed,” the group wrote.
At the end of this week, the Senate is scheduled to go on a two-week Easter recess.
This story was originally published on Wed Mar 20, 2013 5:45 PM EDT


Farty Redhead disagrees. But she is from that a hole's home State. They should break their homicide record this year. Gun control - the gift that keeps on giving.
I don't believe the House or the Senate should be allowed to discuss, meet or vote on ANYTHING until the sequester is over.
Congress only has 2 speeds, slow, and stop, and that's it. Members of congress has the only job that I know, where there is zero accountability for zero productivity. Hell, if they when any faster, they'd be going backwards. Of course a lot of time they do that as well. All on the American tax payer dime. Nop wonder this country is in the poor shape that it is in.
If here illegally you should NEVER have any rights to be here legally!
more2bits,
Good thing the Native American Indians didn't have the same problem with us "illegal immigrants", eh?
Checkered Demon,
Hey, they DID have a problem with that - a big one. Didn't matter much in the end, though, did it?
BTW, I'm an S. Clay Wilson fan too! He and R. Crumb kicked ass back in the days of underground comics!
jpoochoo,
Finally, after more than a year, someone on this vine finally made the Checkered Demon/Crumb-Wilson connection.
Congrats!
Hey CD,
Thanks! Just call me "Mr. Natural". ;)
I'm sure you already know, but there's an award-winning documentary movie, "Crumb", about the life & times of R. Crumb & also a really great 1987 interview with him on You Tube too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yR9vfcNYBhc
Nice to see the Roselle BJ is flapping her trap again
My understanding of the American Health Care Act (Obama Care) is that Illegals are not covered by it, but they are also exempt from the tax/penalty that Americans will have to pay at the year for not having health insurance.
I suspect that this may be the reason an immigration bill is now being fast tracked.
Not going to look so good when Americans are fined for not being covered by insurance, but illegals are not
So now we reward people that break our laws.Do any of you know what happens when mexico catches illigals on its southern border?They go to prison then deported.I dont have a problem with a guest worker program but I do have a problem with our laws violated.Hell I say lets have a hunting season on illigal Mexicans and see how long it takes them to get the hell back where they belong!
Bryan Taylor,You must realize that we have illegals immigrants from many country's living her in the U.S.The ports in L.A. find illegal immigrants packed to the brim in the shipping containers.Those illegal immigrants found in the shipping containers are not from Mexico.Your last sentence is racist and not very nice.I am tired of our government failing us but I do not condone harming anybody because they sneak into our country.I want all of them humanely deported,then they can get on the list and do it the right way.
Can't move slow enough for me.
I am sick of all these politicians bullshi*, they need to be pushing JOBS, JOBS, JOBS, jobs are what our country is in great need of.
Hell we will not need immigration reform soon, some one will be needing to reform our entire country because our economic structure will(HAS)failed us as Americans.
Soon America will have to leave America to look for jobs. LMAO, Real talk!
ryiann,Americans have left this country to obtain jobs abroad but frankly if we left in droves what country would take us all in?My sister and I have discussed this subject at length.Most countries expect people who immigrate to have a boatload of money otherwise they won't allow it.
I don't see how you can expect legislators to take time out of their grueling 120 day work year for this.
Yep, congress works so hard, doing absolutely nothing, oops I forgot Boehner will take time to cry every now and then!
ryiann: Create more jobs? Why? As soon as a job is created there is a Illegal there to take it. We can't create jobs fast enough and will never be able to the way immigrants are coming here from all the world. They drive in, fly in, sneak across the border. There is no end to these people. If we didn't have any jobs or welfare for them they would stop coming here.
Let alone actually read and understand the POS bills they're voting on!
Yeah, like they did with Obamacare - don't read it, just pass it & worry about the consequences later. Screw that!
That kind of irresponsible and ridiculous BS is why the GOP will win big in 2014 & a Republican President will be elected in 2016.
Yeah yeah lets rush that Immigration bill thru so the politicians that are running for office can get that Mexican vote. In fact we should take the border patrol off the border for a month so that more Illegals can come across. Two thousand or more votes got released from jail in Arizona so that should help some too. Yeah yeah yeah, get that bill thru and get the welfare checks ready.
@Tarzan7
It makes a lot of sense, if you think about it. 12 million or more illegal aliens is a hefty price tag on Americans, I guess that is exactly why Americans are screaming WHERE ARE THE JOBS BOEHNER!
12 MILLION under the table jobs to illegal aliens will starve the growth of Americans, and education for Americans. We should just not push the illegal aliens, I say hold these employers and congress accountable also.
Here comes another, "We have to get this passed so we can see what's in it."
Way to go Leahy - amnesty and a path to subsidized housing, food stamps, WIC, free school lunches, free education, Medicaid, SSI, free cell phones and a huge EITC bonus at tax time. You remember tax time don't you? That's when the 53% pay for all the above stuff that you want to give to anybody who walks across the border.
they all ready get those...sorry.
Whats at the heart of this is the democratic voter pool it will create
Just like they did at the Democrat National Convention in 2012 right Leahy?
Oops we left "God and "Jerusalem" out of our platform language. Perhaps we should have read it before we voted on it and passed it?
We have to hurry up, fix it now, so we will have a vote on the floor.
First vote and it didn't pass, Second vote and surprisingly it didn't pass, third vote and it still didn't pass.
No problem convention chairman declares it passed.
All is good now.
Prior to any form of potential legitimacy for illegal aliens the Real “R-E-A-L” fences (2 or3) parallel fences, as according to the 2006 Secure Fence Act (H.R. 6061), must be revised and built , without any changes to the original blueprint. The Secure Fence Act of 2006, which was passed by a Republican Congress and signed by President George W. Bush. It authorized the construction of hundreds of miles of additional fencing along the border with Mexico. 2006. But the vast majority of the requirement was supposedly met with vehicle barriers and single-layer pedestrian fence. The original act specifically called for double-layer fencing, and only 36.3 miles of double-layered fencing that currently exist. However, the act was later amended to allow Border Security the judgment to determine which type of fencing was appropriate for diverse areas, which ended with the underfunding and lies, thus getting the attention of Pro-Sovereignty immigration organization AMERICA PATROL. The double layer fence stretching fifteen miles was to meet up with its counterpart.
Those activists who are for extending the fencing already have a model they can look to: a fence the federal government built more than 10 years ago along a 15-mile-stretch in San Diego, California to the coastal surf. The design is 15 to 20 foot structure, with the internal fence as seen outside maximum security prison enclosures, festooned with a razor concertina wire. Within these fencing barriers all weather access of fast alert roadways for Border Patrol interdiction transport. The more effective use of personnel and technology, such as unmanned aerial drones, ground-based sensors, satellites, radar coverage, with cameras; and physical infrastructure improvements to prevent unlawful entry by aliens into the United States and facilitate access to the international land and maritime borders by Customs and Border Protection, such as additional checkpoints, and vehicle barriers. On the American Patrol website there are videos and other information about the single fence, the real miles constructed, that separates us from South American countries and unequalled poverty.
A second law that must be demanded by THE PEOPLE is the mandatory E-Verify (H.R. 140) provision as part as the Save Act. E-Verify are increasing in its success rate, by connecting with State Department Vehicles and able to check a workers eligibility to work in the United States. This is a imperative law to finally stop employers from hiring illegal aliens and being held accountable for cheating American workers, unless mitigating circumstances are involved.
There should be no excuse for not revising the hundred billion dollar annual cost of Birthright Citizenship for babies smuggled unknowingly passing agents of the government to gain citizenship. It’s become a very lucrative business for people in foreign countries, sending pregnant women to America, to intentional gain citizenship for their children. The 14th amendment was included for slaves and there decedents, not for illegal aliens and it should be visited by the Supreme Court to clear up this chaos. The cost is too steep as it leads to such legislative bills as the DREAM ACT, FAMILY UNIFICATION and in time SANTUARY CITIES. Using this route “Anchor Babies” as citizens in most cases inherits for the Mother a green card, which can then sponsor other family members. The more babies the mother has, which can be considerable, in the way of public benefits and entitlements for each child.
In conclusion it’s time for a new form of national ID, instead of everything based on the Social Security number that has been greatly abused. ID theft is rampant and hundreds of thousands of people find themselves without a credit card, personal data, employment as some criminal has accessed their private information. A mandated Identification card is the best answer to theft and a whole list of different positive reasons. With this plastic card containing your picture, thumb print and even a retinal scan, it will be difficult for anybody to forge it. The penalty for counterfeiting should be a term in prison and not just a fine. The same ID cards could also be used as a countrywide verification for people voting. Because of the lax regulations of the “right to vote Act” relying on a person’s integrity and the threat of being prosecuted for perjury stating they are an American citizen, committing voter fraud doesn’t seem to deter non-citizens from voting as its been illustrated after the presidential elections. It is my contention that Voter fraud” was prevalent in specifically Liberal States, counties and city precincts.
Right now congressional Representatives, the President are on the verge of giving a path to citizenship to people who broke our immigration laws. Our best hope to at least give no ground of any kind is to fight back by calling your politician at the Central Washington phone number at (202) 224-312. . LEARN THE VERACITY OF OUR BORDERS AND RESEARCH THE HIDDEN NEWS AND REPORTS AT AMERICANPATROL. Splash your Senator or Congressional House with post cards, demanding they stop the current path of overpopulation and Balkanization. Bombard Facebook and Twitter with information, as the other side do. Contact your local press and TV station, because the end is near for commonsense and also another hit on the hurting taxpayer. However the best avenue to get results is to directly phone your person in Congress via the aide and leave your argument against illegal immigration, a demand for the real wall, e-verify, repealing illegal aliens children gaining citizenship and of major importance a nation ID card for every citizen and legal resident.
Let them take their sweet time. God only knows they didn't do it with Obama care, nor did they read the bill. It is now starting to nickle and dime the working class to death. An extra 1% in taxes on lumber, insurance premium go up, and 2%+ of that new premium goes to Obama care, and the list goes on and on and on and on and on. We don't need anymore added to the welfare rolls, as we the working class can't afford to pay anymore. Who is going to pay for us when we retire? Oops forgot, we will never be able to retire. We will have to work till we die. Let's put the pres, congress and all the reps on Obama care, as we can't afford their health care premiums and ours. Wait..I get it now, only they will get health care, and we will be left to die!!!!!!!!
one angry taxpayer,
The reason you're angry is that you've been given, or perhaps listened to, BAD information.
Might want to turn off FOX, Rush and Hannity.
Oh, and take a bigggggggg chill pill!!
If our government knows how many illegals are in this country then it shouldn't be too hard collecting and deporting them.
He wants it speed up because it must now be packed full of US citizenship destroying clauses.
Stop the immigration nonsense: join numbersusa or fair.
Let's FACE IT........LAWS .....are MADE...to be broken. It just takes......NUMBERS.......yes....HUGE numbers of ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS....to finally BREAK our IMMIGRATION LAWS........and HAVE IT THEIR WAY.
I can't even bring my FILIPINA WIFE.....here.....because I have to PROVE....that I make $18,387.00 ANNUALLY........Since UNCLE SAM.......SUSPECTS.......she MIGHT go on Welfare in this country. And YET......we spend BILLION$ UPON BILLION$ of dollars......in IRAQ and AFGHANISTAN.......WHO REALLY HATE OUR GUTS for being there.......in the first place.
So....she decided to just stay there and FORGET about IMMIGRATING here. Maybe it's for the best. What a JOKE.......our IMMIGRATION POLICY really is. FORGET what IMMIGRATION LAW really is....it just takes NUMBERS....to DEFEAT.......AMERICA'S IMMIGRATION LAWS.....and NOTHING less.
You watch......they'll END UP giving ALL OF THEM.....AMNESTY. When I get on the TELEPHONE these days....the OPERATOR....on the recording......will say..."if you wish to hear this message in SPANISH......please press 2".
Since when?
Ralph,
Read your post. It's why the GOP will never win another election in this country. People like you.
We know why the speed and haste is necessary.
They need to hurry up and get it passed before Obama's Executive order is declared Unconstitutional.
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2013/01/29/judge-immigration-agents-suing-obama-can-move-forward/
Yes, we all know and understand that each founding law was drafted for the undocumented person in the United States of America.
So, I understand why immigration issues are always a priority for our nation.
(This is extreme sarcasm)
The illegals have every RIGHT TO BE IN THIS NATION! Anything less is just the white race wanting to remain the majority which is not acceptable.
Come on people of color, let's stick together and call our representatives in DC and demand a bill be passed that grants the illegals every right they deserve. If this was a bunch of white illegal european immigrants the whites wouldn't be wanting to stop this!
LOL Andrew. That whole post is pure bull@!$%#. Every nation has the right to control immigration. Sneak into any other country and see what you get. And for the record there were no immigration laws when the Europeans first came to the Americas.
NO AMNESTY and NO Legalization for illegal aliens living in the United States. We want our Federal Government to start enforcing our immigration laws. Deport all illegal aliens, secure the borders and fine anyone who hires an illegal alien. Immigration Reform should change the laws to make employers pay the entire cost of deporting the illegal aliens that they hire. Make E-Verify both Mandatory and Retro-active.