Washington (AFP) – US Senate Democrats blocked a controversial bill Tuesday that would fund homeland security but derail President Barack Obama’s immigration plan, plunging Congress into an impasse as a funding deadline looms.

In December, lawmakers funded all federal departments through the end of fiscal year 2015 except for the Department of Homeland Security, which it funded only through February 27 so the new Republican-controlled Congress could put brakes on Obama’s plan to shield millions of undocumented workers from deportation.

But Senate Democrats united to block the bill from advancing in their chamber, arguing they do not want to see the $40 billion in critical funding held hostage to to political brinkmanship.

“We are happy to debate homeland security, but not with a gun to our head or to the president’s head,” Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer said shortly after the vote.

The battle over DHS funding has become one of the most turbulent congressional debates of 2015, with Republicans irate over what they describe as presidential overreach, and most Democrats lining up behind Obama, who has threatened to veto the legislation.

Last month, the House passed the bill funding DHS through September, but attached five riders that would strip Obama’s authority to carry out his executive action on immigration.

Blocking the bill’s advancement forces lawmakers to craft a compromise in barely three weeks, pass a “clean” DHS funding bill, or see parts of the department that oversees border security, cyberterrorism prevention and the US Secret Service which protects the president go into partial shutdown.

Democrats oppose the bill’s “poison pill” immigration inserts, and insist on passing a straightforward DHS funding bill.

“If my colleagues want to fix our broken immigration system, we are happy to have a debate,” Democratic Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said of Republicans.

“But we should not put our national security at risk in the meantime.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell acknowledged the vote was largely about challenging Democrats and their support for the president while he “repeatedly reached beyond his authority.”

He called Democratic opposition to the bill an “absurd position” that jeopardizes funding for vital security programs.

McConnell in the end voted against the measure for procedural reasons, but one Republican, Dean Heller, joined Democrats in opposition.

Senator John McCain said he and fellow Republicans were weighing options for the path forward.

“I’m not sure exactly what I’d support, but I do not support shutting down DHS,” he told reporters.

“This is going to be a real moving target here for the next week or so… but the object must be not to shut down the government.”

Obama on Monday visited DHS, where he urged Republicans not to play chicken over federal spending.

He warned that failure to fund DHS would mean paychecks halt for 40,000 border patrol agents, 50,000 airport screeners and 13,000 immigration officers.

• Politics & Government
• Government
• Barack Obama
• homeland security
• Senate Democrats

BOSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–

Kevin R. McNamara, a leading immigration attorney, has joined the Immigration Practice of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. Mr. McNamara will be based in the firm’s Boston office.

Prior to joining Mintz Levin, Mr. McNamara was a partner at McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter, LLP.

“Kevin has a well-earned reputation of being one of the finest immigration attorneys in Boston,” said Susan J. Cohen, Chair of Mintz Levin’s Immigration practice. “His experience working with some of the region’s premier universities and research institutions, as well as companies across a wide spectrum of industries, will be a great addition to the talented group of attorneys in our immigration practice. We are delighted to welcome Kevin to the firm.”

With 20-plus years of experience in immigration and nationality law, Mr. McNamara’s practice is focused on employment-based immigration matters. His clients range from major corporations and institutions to individuals, including scientists, technology professionals, academics, artists, athletes, and entrepreneurs. Mr. McNamara has served as immigration counsel to schools, universities, and research institutions as well as companies in the high-tech, pharmaceutical, biomedical, engineering, and financial services industries.

Mr. McNamara is a longtime member of the American Immigrations Lawyers Association, having served as the Chair of the AILA New England Chapter. He has been named an honorary Member of the Association of Fellows and Legal Scholars of the Center for International Legal Studies and a Massachusetts “Super Lawyer” in immigration.

For more information about Mintz Levin, please visit www.mintz.com.

• Company Legal & Law Matters
• Immigration Issues
• Mintz Levin

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Asians have been slower to sign up for President Barack Obama’s reprieve for young immigrants in the country illegally, and community advocates are ramping up efforts to reach thousands more who are eligible for his expanded immigration plan.

Many advocates have blamed the paltry turnout among young Asian immigrants for the administration’s 2012 program on the stigma of being in the country illegally in their communities, where many feel lacking proper immigration papers is culturally shunned.

Now, advocates worry Obama’s new program for the parents of American citizens and legal residents will be an even tougher sell as older generations of Asian immigrants are already working and supporting their families and may be even more reluctant to reveal their immigration status to friends and neighbors, let alone the federal government.

“There is this model minority myth that Asians are supposed to be successful immigrants,” said Anoop Prasad, senior staff attorney at Asian Law Caucus in San Francisco. “What does it say about you if you say: ‘Actually, I am having a lot of problems. I am not making it like everyone else in America thinks we should be?’”

Roughly 5 million immigrants are expected to qualify for Obama’s plans to give work permits and temporary protection from deportation to the parents of U.S. citizens and legal residents and many immigrants brought to the country illegally as children. While most applicants are expected to be Hispanic, nearly half a million of those who qualify are Asian, according to the Washington-based Pew Research Center.

But Asian immigrants have been less apt to apply for the government’s 2012 immigration program than their Latin American counterparts. As of last year, more than 60 percent of eligible Mexicans and Hondurans had signed up for the program, but only about a quarter of eligible Koreans and Filipinos had done so, according to the Migration Policy Institute in Washington.

Knowing the challenges, Asian community advocates have ramped up efforts to reach immigrants and to do so in a private, more personal way.

On a Chinese-language flier for a recent workshop, advocates stressed one-on-one consultations would be offered in a bid to draw immigrants who may not want to disclose their immigration status in a room full of strangers.

Translation is being offered in a spate of languages to cater to elders who probably speak less English than their American-raised children. And instead of using the Internet to reach applicants, community organizations are turning to ethnic newspapers.

“Asian youth tend to go more toward social media and Facebook. We’re actually trying to see if we can get more ads in the paper,” said Tiffany Panlilio, a legal advocate at Asian Americans Advancing Justice in Los Angeles.

But even with these efforts, some experts question whether more Asians will come forward and apply.

Tom Wong, a professor of political science at University of California, San Diego, said Asian immigrants may not fear as acutely the threat of deportation since the most of the people who are deported are Hispanic.

“It may be the case the incentive structure does not favor Asian undocumented immigrants when it comes to applying for these temporary programs,” he said.

Wong also said older immigrants who already have jobs may be less likely to seek temporary work authorization, especially if they are already working under a false name or Social Security number, fearing they could get in trouble with their employer.

Young Asians who applied for Obama’s 2012 reprieve said they were well aware of the generational divide.

Do Hee Lee, a 21-year-old college student in Maryland, said her Korean parents were nervous about her signing up for the program, but the alternative was worse: going to college in Korea and being separated from her family for years.

Seth Ronquillo, a 22-year-old community health advocate in California, said he felt he had nothing to lose when he applied since he had virtually no hope of putting his college degree to use upon graduation because of his immigration status.

His mother, however, was another story. Ronquillo said she sometimes still questions whether he could be at greater risk for deportation since outing himself to the government, especially if Obama’s successor takes a tougher stance on illegal immigration.

“I can only imagine other immigrant parents have the same mentality,” Ronquillo said.

• Immigration Issues
• Politics & Government
• Barack Obama
• immigration