The US Senate has begun a major, free-for-all immigration debate, its first in nearly five years, which could decide the fate of at least 700,000 young people brought into the country illegally years ago as children.
The Senate's No.2 Republican, John Cornyn, has warned that the debate had to be "wrapped up" by Thursday, before next week's congressional recess.
Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, Cornyn's counterpart, told reporters he hoped a combination of the Senate's 49 Democrats and independents, coupled with 11 Republicans, could pass the bill.
But Cornyn said tepid support among Republicans was a recipe for failure.
"If they think ... they can cobble together a handful of Republicans to go along with a majority of Democrats and somehow get it past the House and get the president to sign it, I think that's a pipedream."
Under an order issued last year by Republican President Donald Trump, the Dreamers could be deported after March 5.
By forcing the deadline on Congress with his September order, Trump drove a sharp wedge between Democrats and Republicans on an emotionally charged issue.
"This week we will see the horrific vision of the White House and extremist Republicans on full display ... their vision is nothing short of white supremacy," Greisa Martinez Rosas, an immigration activist said.
On the other side, the group Advocates for Victims of Illegal Alien Crime said in a press release: "The reality is that American families are the ones suffering the most - their children killed - by illegal alien crime."
It is unclear if any immigration bill could cross the Senate's 60-vote hurdle, let alone pass the more conservative House of Representatives.
"I just don't know if we will have 60 votes" for anything, Durbin said.
The debate is about a program started in 2012 by former president Barack Obama, a program called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals gives certain young immigrants temporary protections from deportation and the ability to get work permits.
Under Trump's present orders, an estimated 1,000 immigrants a day will lose their DACA protections beginning on March 5.
Some Republicans argue that the deadline on that date has lost its force since a federal court blocked Trump from ending DACA, sending the matter before the Supreme Court.
The nine justices are due to meet on Friday to discuss how to handle the administration's appeal.
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