Sen. Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that he hopes to see the Senate’s bipartisan group “come together” to craft an agreement that can pass unanimously later this week. | Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images Senate far off from deal to fix family separation crisis

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday urged bipartisan negotiators to reach a deal this week to fix the Trump administration’s slapdash policy on migrant family separations — but the Kentucky Republican is poised to be disappointed.

Immigration talks that began this week are only in their early stages, according to senators in both parties. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) met on Monday, and their efforts are likely to stretch into next month given that lawmakers are scheduled to leave Washington next week for their Fourth of July recess.


President Donald Trump signed an executive order last week that calls for migrant families to be detained together after illegal entry into the United States, but Border Patrol agents have had to suspend referring family members for prosecution after they cross the border because of strained resources. While the Justice Department maintains that its “zero tolerance” policy of prosecuting all individuals who illegally cross the border remains operative, the administration has asked Congress to pass legislation to resolve the crisis.

McConnell said Tuesday that he hopes to see the Senate’s bipartisan group “come together” to craft an agreement that can pass unanimously later this week.

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“That’s what I’d like to see, and I think we have a pretty diverse group of people working together to try to get an outcome,” he told reporters.

Cruz and Tillis have proposed legislation that ends standards for the detention of migrant children enshrined in a 1997 court settlement that the Trump administration is seeking to modify in order to detain families together for longer periods of time.

Yet Durbin, the Democratic whip, made clear that he and Feinstein “feel very strongly about keeping those protections” intact. “So, we start with that difference.”

He predicted that the talks would not come to fruition this week but would pick back up when lawmakers return to the Capitol early next month. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) also suggested immigration talks weren’t close to resolution Tuesday when he reminded reporters that Trump could remedy the crisis by ending the “zero tolerance” policy without congressional action.

“I’m always glad when people are talking,” Schumer said. “The president and the administration can solve this problem on their own.”

Cruz, for his part, said only that “details are still very much being worked out” and urged Democrats to be open to “common ground.” The Texan told reporters Tuesday that he is open to using ankle bracelets to monitor migrants who cross illegally during the adjudication of their asylum claims or illegal entry cases.

“There are congressional Democrats who want to use this situation to mandate catch-and-release, to mandate that every adult who is caught with a family unit crossing illegally must be released,” Cruz said. “That would be a serious mistake. That would only encourage more illegal immigration.”

