Republican and Democratic senators are beginning to talk across the aisle about ending President Donald Trump’s practice of splitting families at the border. But so far, they’re mostly talking past one another.

And with Trump showing no sign he’ll back down despite the growing public pressure, the result is that migrant children may continue to be ripped from their parents’ arms for weeks to come if families cross the border illegally.


Democratic leaders note Trump can change the policy now without Congress’ help and have rallied around legislation written by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) to stop the family separation, though it’s gotten zero GOP supporters.

Republican leaders are devising their own bill to end the practice based on preliminary work from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), but so far GOP leaders have barely reached out to Democrats, who are skeptical that Trump would sign Cruz’s legislation.

With both parties largely entrenched, centrist senators are increasingly worried that there will be rival partisan “fixes” to ending the crisis — with no give from either side that can lead to 60 votes in the Senate.

“What I worry about now is you have a Republican bill and a Democratic bill. And both sides say they have a solution,” said Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.).

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) is similarly pessimistic about a bipartisan solution.

“That would be the proper thing to do,” he said. “But you and I have been around here long enough to know that might not happen.”

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And while most Democrats and Republicans continue to plot their own courses, moderates in the Senate are just getting started.

Senators including Manchin, Susan Collins (R-Maine), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) — who led immigration negotiations that ended in failure in February — are beginning preliminary talks. But they have no bill and no agreement on how broadly to go.

“I’ve had conversations with both Republicans and Democrats,” Collins said. Asked what legislation that could translate to, she replied: “I’m not sure.”

Even finding a starting point will be difficult. Some senators believe a narrow agreement focusing on family separations is the way to go. Others think if the Senate is going to touch immigration policy, then it should have a much broader discussion.

Feinstein and Cruz both say the solution is simply for the other side to join their partisan effort.

“If Sen. Collins has something that she would like to add or work with, I would be fine in looking at that. But we have every Democrat right now on a bill, and I don’t want to get into a big negotiation for nothing,” Feinstein said.

“If [Democrats] are willing to work together with us, then yes, we can solve this,” Cruz said.

Feinstein’s bill would ban the practice of separating kids from their parents, which Republicans say could encourage illegal immigration by freeing parents who cross the border illegally. The Cruz bill would bring hundreds more judges to the border and try to process families' cases in two weeks or fewer while children are kept in detention with their parents.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on Tuesday that he is seeking a narrow, standalone bill that would keep migrant families together. But White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has said the president will not accept such a bill, preferring instead that Congress pass a broader bill that makes changes to the legal immigration system and funds Trump’s border wall.

Even the president's most ardent defenders are moving quickly to halt his policy. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) gathered signatures from a dozen GOP senators on a letter asking Attorney General Jeff Sessions to stop family separation at the border, at least temporarily, while Congress works on legislation.

The House is also considering two sweeping immigration bills. But it’s unclear whether those bills will even make it to the floor later this week after Trump said Tuesday he wanted changes to the legislation.

Senate Republicans are hopeful that the White House will pivot toward a narrower solution if those bills fail.

If Trump stays in opposition to legislation focused solely on the separation policy, Congress could in theory pass a bill with a veto-proof majority and force the president to change his border tactics. But congressional Republicans have shown little appetite to confront the president.

And despite writing their own legislation to overturn Trump’s border policy, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said bluntly on Tuesday: “There’s no need for legislation.”

“Unacceptable additions have bogged down every piece of immigration legislation we have done. It’s an excuse,” Schumer said. “It’s an excuse by our Republican colleagues who feel the heat [but] don’t want to attack the president.”

Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said Democrats are backing the Feinstein bill “to express our disapproval” of the Trump administration policy.

Trump and other Republicans have repeatedly cited a two-decades-old court settlement — known as the Flores agreement — as justification for the surge in family separations at the border. But the reality is that the separations are due entirely to a new Trump administration “zero tolerance” policy — prosecuting all adults who are suspected of crossing the border illegally — announced by the Department of Justice in early April.

Republicans say that while the White House could change its policy, they don’t expect Trump to do so.

“In the short term, he may very well continue this policy, and he’s going to keep on it until Congress gets something done,” Rounds said. “It would surprise me if he just unilaterally changed it at this stage in the game.”

But even Democrats eager for bipartisanship say they are skeptical about whether there’s a deal to be had in Congress that doesn’t encourage brinkmanship by the administration.

“It doesn’t take a bill,” Coons said. “Why would I engage in legislation that gives them what they’re looking for and allows them to succeed in using children as hostages?"

Republicans are racing to prepare legislation to put Democrats’ position to the test. Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) said on Tuesday that the GOP legislation could be ready in days.

But even some GOP senators are worried that they aren’t doing enough outreach with the minority party to actually find a solution. Some are suggesting that Cruz and Feinstein could put their heads together; others believe Collins’ group might come up with something.

The biggest fear among the rank and file is that the Senate holds a vote to stop a policy that no one in Congress seems to like — and it fails.

“I’d like to have a position to get behind as a Republican, realizing we need to work with Democrats to get a solution. I don’t think anybody wins by having dueling bills,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said. “I think people want an outcome.”