Supporters of comprehensive immigration reform got good news last week with the disclosure that President Obama had useful conversations with three of the four Republican senators working to strike a bipartisan compromise in Congress.
The president called Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida, John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina to praise their work and encourage them to keep fighting for a comprehensive reform bill.
"The senator told the president that he feels good about the ongoing negotiations in the Senate, and is hopeful the final product is something that can pass the Senate with strong bipartisan support," said Rubio spokesman Alex Conant.
The White House released a statement saying the president called the senators to discuss "their shared commitment to bipartisan common-sense reform."
One of the most difficult issues the senators still have to work out is how to measure progress on border security. Republicans are insisting that any pathway to legal residency for the 11 million undocumented residents in the country has to be linked to verifiable improvement in securing the nation's border with Mexico.
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