Senate Judiciary Committee Passes Bipartisan Immigration Bill

Statement

Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet today hailed committee passage of the bipartisan immigration bill he introduced with the "Group of 8.' The Senate Judiciary Committee voted in a bipartisan 13-5 to report the bill to the full Senate, which is expected to debate the bill and consider amendments next month.

"This transparent, constructive, and deliberate process is how the Senate is supposed to work," Bennet said. "The Judiciary Committee considered hundreds of amendments in a good faith effort that resulted in a stronger bill. It adopted dozens of amendments to improve the legislation while maintaining the balance and compromise that had already drawn a wide array of support across the political spectrum. Much of that support comes from Colorado, which in many ways is the epicenter of the immigration debate. Across the state, Coloradans don't see this as a partisan issue. They've told us they just want an immigration system that works for our families, businesses and economy. We'll continue to listen to ideas and work to improve this bill on the Senate floor in the coming weeks."

Bennet and the Group of 8 introduced the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013 in April following several months of discussions and negotiations with a diverse group of stakeholders. The bill secures our borders, includes a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants, makes reforms to an outdated visa system to ensure businesses have access to a workforce that has the skills they need, and includes important worker protections.

The Group of 8 announced its plans to work on immigration reform in January when it unveiled the framework for a bipartisan bill to fix our broken immigration system. That framework included bipartisan agreements on border security, visa reform, law enforcement, and a tough but fair path to citizenship for the millions of undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States.

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