Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Wednesday continued to walk a fine line on immigration between two ends of his caucus: a tea party that remains staunchly opposed to a Senate bill that includes a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants, and a centrist block who sees the writing on the wall.
“I’m undecided about the bill but I’m not undecided about the problem,” McConnell said on Fox News. “The border is not secure….and we need to fix it. I’ve not decided whether this is the bill to do that. We have a serious problem along the border, we need to fix it, the status quo is not acceptable.”
McConnell, who has drawn the furor of tea party groups in the past as he seeks re-election in 2014, added that he would not block the so-called Gang of Eight bill that successfully survived an extensive markup session in the Judiciary committee Tuesday night.
“That is the bill that will come to the Senate floor,” he said. “The question is will it leave the Senate floor? Will it fix the problem? I think we don’t know that at the beginning of the debate, the debate has to occur, will occur over multiple weeks in June in all likelihood.”
