Newly-elected Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., says President Obama told him that Democrats are planning an immigration bill in a month.
Obama asked Brown to consider the bipartisan bill that Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Charles Schumer D-N.Y. are trying to create.
“He called me originally about illegal immigration, something that he wanted me to look at that was coming down the pike,” Brown told The Wall Street Journal. “I told him and others that I will read anything and make a judgment when it comes forth.”
Brown says he and Obama also discussed topics ranging from basketball to financial regulation.
As for immigration reform, “When I said I have an open mind, it means I have an open mind to read the bill,” Brown said.
“That doesn’t mean that I will vote for granting amnesty to anyone. But I want to be respectful to the president and to any member who brings me a proposal.”
After the bruising healthcare debate and now a push for increased financial regulation, many Democrats thought the president would slow down ahead of the November elections.
But Schumer is adamant that they should pursue a broad overhaul of immigration policy, including a strong buildup of border security and creation of a path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants already in the country.
On the Republican side, Arizona Sens. John McCain and John Kyl Monday proposed sending 3,000 more U.S. National Guard soldiers to quell violence spilling over the border from Mexico.
In a 10-point plan for beefing up security in the area, Sens. John McCain and John Kyl also called for permanently adding 3,000 U.S. Custom and Border Protection Agents to the Arizona/Mexico border by 2015.
"Violence has dramatically increased over the last two years," McCain said at a joint press conference with Kyl and two sheriffs from Arizona border areas.
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