Immigration has played a key role in the 2016 presidential election and has some of the formerly known 'Gang of Eight' members saying they'll reintroduce comprehensive amnesty legislation if Democrats hold on to the White House. The Gang of Eight's 2013 bill would have doubled legal immigration and granted lifetime work permits to 11 million illegal aliens.
In a recent interview, Gang of Eight member, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said, "I'll tell you what I'm going to do in 2017. I'm going to take the Gang of Eight bill out, dust it off and ask anybody and everybody who wants to work with me to make it better to do so."
If Democrats win the Senate back in November, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) will become the Majority Leader. Sen. Schumer has already said that immigration reform will be his top priority.
Another GOP Gang of Eight member, Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) said, "The hour [when] we can move it, we've got to move it."
Gang of Eight member, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), however, backed away from the amnesty legislation during his presidential run.
"I don't believe that a comprehensive approach can pass, nor do I believe at this point, given everything that's transpired, that it's the right way forward," Sen. Rubio said.
While House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) could be open to the legislation, Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) called the Gang of Eight template a "non-starter".
The outcome of the elections this November will play a major role in the decision of Congress to take up the immigration issue again. Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are offering opposing views on immigration. Clinton said she will expand Pres. Obama's executive amnesties in her first 100 days in office, despite the recent Supreme Court decision that kept an injunction against the amnesties in place. Donald Trump has said he would revoke Pres. Obama's executive actions and make building a wall on the Southern border a top priority.
Read more on this story at Politico.com.
