Utah Sen. Mike Lee: Border patrols a key to immigration reform

WASHINGTON, April 14 (UPI) — Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said Sunday he is unsure whether a bipartisan deal on immigration reform can pass the Senate.

Appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Lee was asked whether compromise legislation being developed on Capitol Hill contains any so-called poison pills that would prevent passage.

“I don’t know,” he said. “It’s something that might well survive the Senate with a few Republican votes that appear to be on it. It could get through, especially if a few others join it. What we don’t yet know is the details, the fine print of the bill. Some have suggested it could be … as long as 1,500 pages. We have yet to see it. I look forward to seeing it.”

Lee’s comments came after an appearance by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., a member of the Senate “gang of eight” — four Republicans and four Democrats — working together to craft a deal to address the nation’s illegal immigration problem.

Lee, a freshman conservative with Tea Party support, expressed a common sentiment among Republicans, that immigration reform offering a pathway to citizenship without first effectively policing the Mexican border would create a greater incentive for people to enter the country illegally.

“The pathway to citizenship, right now, before those other [border security] elements are in place, is the deal breaker for me,” Lee said. “It’s not necessarily something that would be a deal breaker down the road. I just think we need to get the other things in place first. It’s a matter of sequencing.”