Durbin says migrant deaths in Texas could be ‘Uvalde moment’ for immigration deal

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., says that he hopes the deaths of 51 migrants in a tractor-trailor in Texas will prove to be a “Uvalde moment” for efforts to pass a broad immigration deal.

Durbin told Politico that talks have restarted with Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., about a possible Senate deal as the two are traveling in Europe for a NATO Summit in Madrid.

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He referenced the shooting in Uvalde, Texas where 21 people were killed by a gunman at an elementary school. That massacre led to a bipartisan gun control bill passing through the chamber last week.  

Durbin expressed hope that the deaths this week of 51 migrants in a tractor-trailer in San Antonio, Texas would provide a similar impetus for stalled efforts to pass a similar bipartisan deal on immigration. The migrants were found in the abandoned vehicle, which authorities believe was part of a human smuggling operation.

“We’ve been talking the last couple days about reviving that effort,” Durbin told Politico. “And I think what happened at the border with finding 51 dead migrants in that tractor trailer is what I would call a ‘Uvalde moment.’ I hope it sparks an interest in finding a bipartisan approach to dealing with immigration.”

Senators in both parties have been pushing for years to find a comprehensive immigration deal. Democrats sought to revive the effort at the start of the Biden administration — but Republicans balked at the inclusion of a mass amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants already in the country, especially given the ongoing migrant crisis at the southern border.

Democrats later sought to include a number of amnesty proposals in its budget reconciliation framework, but they were found to be inappropriate for inclusion by the Senate parliamentarian — and the reconciliation bill stalled in general after Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said he would not support it.

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Additionally, any deal that includes a pathway to citizenship for any number of illegal immigrants is likely to face significant opposition from both the Republican base and…