Seven lawmakers to watch as immigration debate comes roaring back | McClatchy Washington Bureau

Congress will return this week to the political cauldron of immigration policy, and almost every lawmaker will claim he or she is a player.

But realistically, if a deal is reached to protect nearly 700,000 undocumented immigrants from deportation, only a handful will be able to claim credit for moving the needle.

They represent a range of roles on Capitol Hill: Establishment insiders, veteran dealmakers, consensus-builders and unrelenting agitators.

These members of Congress are hoping to craft a deal before Thursday, when much of the government could shut down again.

Democrats want an assurance the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program will be preserved as a condition of voting to maintain government funding.

Republicans want a deal, too, to avoid an ugly post-Feb. 8 scenario. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., promised that after that date, he will allow an open debate on the Senate floor on any number of immigration proposals. This will force members to take controversial votes, likely resulting in legislation that may not have enough conservative support to survive in the House or be signed by President Donald Trump.

Chances are, lawmakers won’t reach an agreement by then, meaning they’ll have to scramble to beat the March 5 deadline, when Trump says he’ll end the DACA program once and for all.

Here are seven lawmakers to watch as the drama unfolds:

1. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. The White House panned the immigration proposal Graham touted along with Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois, which included a pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients.

But their framework is still being used as a starting point for the nearly 36 senators from both parties who showed up for a meeting Graham personally convened following the Senate vote to reopen government last month after a three-day shutdown. They have since been meeting nearly every legislative workday to come up with a new framework.

The initial meeting Graham orchestrated was also where the decision was made to use Durbin and his GOP counterpart, Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas, as the clearinghouses for negotiating the group’s ideas with other party leaders.

2. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. Graham convened the meeting to begin immigration negotiations, but it was Collins who first opened her office doors the weekend of the January government shutdown to any senator who wanted to revive federal operations.

Many of these members of her so-called “Common Sense Caucus” have joined the immigration group, which Collins is continuing to host.

If those meetings end, or get permanently moved elsewhere, it could send an important signal about where she — one of Congress’s most well-respected moderates and bridge-builders — thinks the conversations are headed.

3. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill. Just like the end of Collins’s involvement in immigration discussions could signal the deterioration of bipartisan negotiations, Gutierrez’s embrace of an immigration proposal could indicate a breakthrough.

Democrats are currently struggling with what they’d be willing to accept in an immigration deal. Gutierrez is himself incensed over the White House’s proposal to give all DACA recipients a path to citizenship in exchange for slashing legal immigration to the lowest levels in almost a century and erecting a massive border wall.

But Gutierrez, an outspoken hero of the pro-DACA activist community, has also said he’s willing to take some compromise bill, and if he accepts one, other Democrats might come along, too.

4. Durbin. He has fought for years for legislation to protect DACA beneficiaries from deportation and Democrats continue to be confident he will be a good-faith negotiator with Republicans. At the same time, Democrats know Durbin won’t sign onto any deal that doesn’t have the support of his members.

Judging by his stonefaced response to Trump’s State of the Union address, it’s clear Durbin will continue to hold the line for Democrats in the days ahead.

5. Cornyn. In the hours before the government shutdown last month, as lawmakers lobbied McConnell to promise a path forward on immigration so Democrats would vote to keep government open, Cornyn said McConnell should not reward Democrats for “bad behavior.” Last week, Cornyn told McClatchy he was in “pretty constant” contact with the White House.

Though Cornyn is now one of the formal negotiators on immigration legislation, he has consistently represented in leadership ranks the voices of conservatives who want a deal aligned with the far-right base. Cornyn could continue to be a voice of reason among Senate Republicans about what can and can’t be accomplished if the GOP wants to avoid intraparty warfare.

6. Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C. If Cornyn is helping guide Republicans in the Senate, Meadows is helping steer Republicans in the House towards coming up with a deal that conservatives can accept. As the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus who regularly communicates with members of the Trump administration, Meadows is positioned to provide the pressure necessary to influence House Speaker Paul Ryan.

Meadows wants a vote on legislation from House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., which doesn’t have the support to pass in the Senate and may not even have the votes to advance in the House. But if Meadows doesn’t get what he wants, he could mobilize more than three dozen conservatives to revolt.

7. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla. Early public signs Diaz-Balart was engaging in current immigration negotiations came last month, when he was invited to two consecutive Oval Office meetings to discuss the issue. Other than that, the congressman has had a relatively low profile in this round of discussions — though this is how Diaz-Balart has typically operated on immigration.

In 2014, Diaz-Balart was within striking distance of convincing House GOP leaders to put a comprehensive immigration overhaul bill on the floor, an effort that fizzled after the surprise primary defeat of then-Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va. Three and a half years later, he could be making moves to build consensus on the issue yet again.