US News

Senateimmig win near

WASHINGTON — Friends and even foes of the Senate’s immigration-reform bill yesterday predicted it will pass the chamber this week with overwhelming support.

“Momentum is growing,” declared Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), a member of the Senate’s bipartisan Gang of Eight, which crafted the legislation that would boost border security and put America’s 11 million illegal aliens on a path to citizenship.

He predicted the bill will pass with support from about 70 of the chamber’s 100 members, putting intense pressure on the GOP-run House to take it up.

“This is going to be a historic week for the Senate as we pass comprehensive immigration reform,” Schumer said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), one of the fiercest opponents of the immigration overhaul, also acknowledged the bill will get at least 70 votes.

He told “Fox News Sunday” that it is “likely to pass along those margins.”

The bill picked up more support last week when the Senate passed an amendment that dramatically increased the border-security provisions, including spending more than $40 billion over 10 years to add 20,000 agents, 700 miles of fence and high-tech surveillance on the southern border.

Still, the fate of the bill remained far from certain in the GOP-run House.

“It will pass the Senate, but it’s dead on arrival in the House,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said on CNN. “The House is much closer to me, and I think . . . border security has to come first before you get immigration reform.”

Schumer said that House Speaker John Boehner will face pressure to put a similar bill on the floor for a vote.

“He will have no choice as the pressure mounts over the summer,” he said.

“If the House resists, I think we’ll see a day like we did in the civil-rights movement. I think we’ll see 2 million people on the Mall in Washington, DC, and on the stage will not just be liberal Democrats.

“They will be the business leaders, agricultural leaders, cardinals from the Catholic Church, leaders of the evangelical churches, all saying this is the right thing to do,” he said. “And they will have to pass it.”