Politico
reports:
If House Republicans pass a pared-down funding bill for the border crisis, Senate Democrats are warning they may try to attach the Gang of Eight’s comprehensive immigration reform bill to the package.
Obviously, there's no chance the House will pass immigration reform, so if this report is accurate, it's really more about positioning than trying to achieve a deal. In fact, with Senate Republicans already filibustering Democratic attempts to pass legislation dealing with just the refugee children, the House probably doesn't even need to worry about what would happen if the Senate passed a new border bill with immigration attached—because with Republicans saying they'd oppose any such effort, it won't.
There will probably be some tsk-tsking from the media about how something is better than nothing, and at least House Republicans passed something—if indeed they do pass something—so why isn't the Senate doing something? But given that the bill House Republicans are hoping to pass would accomplish nothing other than accelerating the deportation of refugee children, this seems like a case of nothing is better than something. And maybe if Senate Democrats link action to immigration reform, it will remind at least a couple of reporters in D.C. that the Senate has already passed major legislation to deal with the border in comprehensive fashion—and that it's House Republicans who refuse to act.