The Latest: Senate off to slow start on immigration debate

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., stands at left as Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., speaks during a news conference about an immigration bill on Capitol Hill, Monday, Feb. 12, 2018 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., stands at left as Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., speaks during a news conference about an immigration bill on Capitol Hill, Monday, Feb. 12, 2018 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the Senate’s immigration debate (all times local):

1:25 p.m.

The Senate is off to a slow start in this week’s immigration debate with the chamber’s Republican and Democratic leaders already at loggerheads on moving forward.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he wants to start the votes Tuesday afternoon.

McConnell has proposed that Republicans bring up an amendment targeting cities that don’t fully cooperate with federal immigration authorities. Then, Democrats would bring up an amendment of their choosing. Amendments gaining 60 votes would become part of the immigration bill.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has objected.

Schumer wants McConnell to bring up legislation that incorporates President Donald Trump’s priorities and a second, much narrower bill from Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Chris Coons, D-Del.

The disagreement means there could be several more hours of speeches before any votes occur.

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11:20 a.m.

Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois says Olympic gold medalist Chloe Kim’s story is the story of immigration in America.

With the Senate debating immigration, Durbin is invoking the journey of Kim’s father from South Korea to the United States in 1982 with a couple hundred dollars.

Durbin says Chloe Kim showed an interest in snowboarding as a young girl, developing into one of the best in the world and capturing a gold medal for the U.S. in the halfpipe Tuesday.

Durbin says Kim’s family resembles many other immigrants who don’t bring wealth and often don’t bring a proficiency in English. He says “they only come here with a determination to make a better life for themselves and a better country for all of us.”

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8:35 a.m.

A Republican senator who introduced President Donald Trump’s immigration proposal says it’s “the president’s framework bill or nothing.”

Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas calls the bill “not an opening bid” for negotiations with Democrats on immigration but the “best and final offer.”

Like the proposal Trump unveiled last month, the measure would offer a chance for citizenship for up to 1.8 million people who arrived in the U.S. as children and stayed illegally. It would provide $25 billion for border security, restrict family-based immigration, and end a visa lottery.

The Trump plan faces an uphill battle in the Senate.

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12:13 a.m.

The Senate’s Republican and Democratic leaders say it’s going to be tough to broker a successful deal on immigration policy.

Debate is expected to end this week with a vote on President Donald Trump’s own proposal.

The Republican majority leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, says Democrats need to back up their demand for action with hard work on finding a solution that Congress will pass and Trump will sign.

The Democratic leader, Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, expressed opposition to Trump’s proposal. It would pave a path to citizenship for up to 1.8 million young “Dreamer” immigrants in the U.S. illegally, a lure for Democrats. Trump also wants $25 billion for a border wall with Mexico and other security measures.