.......In the meeting with the newspaper's editorial board,
McCain said Schumer is in agreement about the need to return to
immigration reform.
"Basically it's what we passed
last time, brought up to date with the new challenges, like opioids,"
McCain said. "It's still there. We got 68 votes, I think, the last time.
I don't think that's going to be any different next time."
One longtime champion of comprehensive immigration reform applauded McCain's return to the fray, despite the long odds.
"It's
difficult to imagine Trump signing a comprehensive immigration reform
bill because he's so focused on stoking his base," said Frank Sharry,
the executive director of the liberal-leaning national pro-reform
organization America's Voice.
"But you can see how
more and more people are moving away from Trump as his poll ratings
sink, as his lying becomes endemic, and his temperament is so obviously
juvenile," he said. "It's conceivable that a group of bipartisan-minded
Republicans in the Senate can make common cause with bipartisan-minded
Democrats."
McCain would be the natural leader of such a movement, Sharry said.
In
2013, McCain and Schumer led the bipartisan Gang of Eight, which also
consisted of Republican Sens. Jeff Flake of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of
South Carolina, and Marco Rubio of Florida, and Democratic Sens. Dick
Durbin of Illinois, Michael Bennet of Colorado and Robert Menendez of
New Jersey.
Their legislation aimed to balance border security with a pathway to citizenship and a modernized visa system.
