By Kaitlan Collins (Brooke Lynch)
Senators Joe Manchin (Caroline Baker) and Kyrsten Sinema (Rhiannon Tamburri) shocked Democrats this week when they voted to kill Senator Alex Padilla’s (Rebeca Perez) Home of the Brave Act.
The Home of the Brave Act was heard this Monday, October 17, in the Foreign and Military Affairs Committee. The bill was written by Senator Padilla with the intent to grant citizenship to all immigrants who served/will serve in America’s military and to veterans who have been deported. The bill also grants citizenship to any of those veterans’ dependents.
Many of the republicans in the committee had concerns about the logistics of the bill, worrying about what previous crimes veterans who were deported committed and whether or not they should be let back into the country. Senator Rubio (Jared D’Agostino) even went to the extent of questioning if children could be used as drug mules by labeling them as dependents of immigrant veterans.
Padilla reassured worried senators in committee that this would not be the case. The bill specified that no veteran who had served a sentence of more than five years would be granted citizenship. In fact, most veterans who were deported that would be receiving citizenship were deported for having multiple misdemeanors or were deported due to ICE violating the proper guidelines regarding the deportation of veterans.
Despite Padilla’s reassurances, Republicans had a number of amendments which were all rejected and eventually, after a five minute recess, the bill was put to a vote. With only three Republican senators present for the final vote, Democrats were hopeful Padilla’s bill would pass with ease. This was not the case, and with Manchin and Sinema voting against the bill, the vote was tied 5 to 5 and died in committee.
Photo: Republican Senators Shelby, Cotton, and Sasse were notably absent from the final vote
Many of the Democrats on the Foreign and Military Affairs Committee were upset and shocked by the surprise vote. They were especially surprised because both Manchin and Sinema gave their support to the bill before committee and raised no amendments or inquiries about the bill while it was being heard in committee. Senator Angus King (Tyler Hawes) articulated, “that’s surprising and disappointing because we spent a lot of time out of committee and in committee really working through the specifics of the bill and if its all for nothing because of non-transparent information then what’s the point.” King emphasized that Democrats were “under the impression they were voting fully in favor of the bills and all of our amendments that we’ve agreed upon as a party and we received such assurances.”
Senator Menendez (Alejandra Smith-Gil), vice chair of the Foreign and Military Affairs Committee, also expressed similar feelings, commenting “Senator Padilla and myself really cared about this bill and unfortunately we had the opportunity to pass a bill if we wanted to but Senator Manchin and Sinema prevented that from happening today. It’s unfortunate.”
Both Manchin and Sinema were quick to defend their choice to kill the bill. Manchin stated the bill “would create loopholes for possible criminals and persons already denied citizenship and cause further confusion within our already complicated immigration system.” Manchin also emphasized that they are “dedicated to creating and passing bipartisan legislature” and could not “in good faith support the Home of the Brave Act” since no Republicans were in favor of the bill.
Sinema had a similar sentiment, expressing that “I openly support our veterans and will work to push further legislation in their favor in the future, however in this case I found the risks of security associated with its passage in regards to undocumented immigrants as well as the lack of bipartisan support outweighed the potential benefits.”
Senator Hirono (Kalista Marandas) was especially disappointed in Senator Sinema’s choice since, in her words, “there are many many immigrants in the state of Arizona which Krysten Sinema herself represents so I’m sure those immigrants will be upset to hear that she is not accurately representing their needs and values.”
Democrats were not having Manchin and Sinema’s claims of bipartisanship. King explained, “Bipartisanship to me is lowering these barriers and being open and free in our communication and having these back room agreements to then deny on the floor is completely unnecessary especially given not a single amendment or point of order or inquiry was ever posed by either Manchin nor Sinema.” Senator Padilla also criticized Manchin and Sinema’s decision to kill the bill in the name of bipartisanship citing how Republican Senator Lindsey Graham (Jackson Buick) had cosponsored the bill before it was heard in committee on Monday.
King and other Democrats continue to emphasize they would be happy to compromise and find common ground on bills, but that it is only possible if senators are transparent and open with each other.
Padilla left the ordeal with this final statement: “I’m really disappointed. I’m not gonna give up though. I’m still really committed to this fight, I’m still really committed to expanding immigration, to protecting our veterans. Hopefully I can work on another bill that would do similar things, hopefully this time with the support of Sinema and Manchin and even possibly some Republicans.”
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