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WASHINGTON The lead GOP sponsor of a sex trafficking bill that's stalled over abortion offered a new plan Tuesday to resolve the impasse, but Democrats immediately rejected it, leaving any resolution unclear.

The continued gridlock promised to prolong a months-long delay in confirming President Barack Obama's attorney general nominee, Loretta Lynch, since Senate Republican leaders have decided to hold up her vote until the trafficking bill is dealt with.

Sen. John Cornyn of Texas proposed reworking a victims' fund in the bill, but Democrats said his approach didn't resolve their concern about expanding abortion funding prohibitions in existing law.

"That is a bridge we are not going to allow to be crossed," said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.

Cornyn said Republicans were trying to accommodate Democrats' reservations. "I don't know how in the world they could possibly object when we're answering, responding to their concerns," he said.

Murray countered that Democrats have offered Cornyn nine different deals and he's shot them all down.

Still, the back-and-forth suggested a continued interest in resolving the issue as senators returned to Capitol Hill from a two-week spring recess.

The bill to help sex trafficking victims had been widely popular until it got stuck in a partisan dispute over the abortion funding provision, which Democrats claim they initially hadn't known was in the legislation.

Language banning the use of taxpayer funds for abortions has been included for decades in Congress' annual spending bills, but the trafficking bill would extend that to a new pot of money made up of fees paid by sex criminals. Democrats say they can't accept that.

Lawmakers of both parties have offered various ways out of the conundrum without success. Cornyn's latest idea involves funneling the criminal fees into the general treasury and using the treasury as the source for money in the victims' fund. Democrats say that doesn't solve their fundamental problem with the bill.

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Senate Democrats reject latest GOP offer on trafficking bill

If Marco Rubio becomes the first Latino president, it wont be because of the Latino vote. The Republican senator from Floridaalienated many Latinos when he abandoned immigration reform in 2013, and the ones still in his corner dont make up enough of the electorate to make a difference. Coupled with his stances against President Barack Obamas health care law and the Obama administrations executive actions on immigration -- two issues both highly popular with Latinos -- Rubio has the same problem as his Republican rivals: Winning the Latino vote wont be easy.

Rubios challenges were on display Monday, when he formally announced he was running for president. While giving his speech from the Freedom Tower in Miami, a group composed of young illegal immigrants known as Dreamers and other Latino advocates protestedoutside by shouting, What about my family? Rubios dream is our nightmare!" Rubio also faced hecklers angry over his immigration policies on his recent book tour.

"What we have seen is that he's actually turned his back on the Latino community," said Cristina Jimenez, managing director of United We Dream, one of the groups that protested Monday. "It's very clear who's standing with our community and who's not."

Latino voter turnout for then-candidate Barack Obama in 2008 and during his re-election in 2012 propelled him to the White House -- he won roughly 70 percent of the Hispanic vote in both years. Although he didnt get a majority of the Latino vote in 2004, President George W. Bushs re-election was due in part to garnering 44 percent of the Latino vote. By contrast, 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney got only27 percent of the Latino vote.

Theres too much animosity from the Republican Party toward the Latinos, and in order for that to change you cant just run a Latino last name, said Norma Ruiz Guerrero, founder of Memes Media, a New York political advertising firm that helps candidates craft their message to Latino voters. His last name should be Smith, really, she said of Rubio. Hes not anything like the majority of Latinos in this country.

Rubio has a negative net favorability rating among Latinos who voted in the 2014 midterm elections, according to a survey conducted by the polling firm Latino Decisions. Only 31 percent of Latino voters had a favorable view of the Florida senator, while 36 percent held an unfavorable opinion. About a third either had no opinion of Rubio or had never heard of him.

The main factors driving Rubios unpopularity in the Latino community are his about-face on immigration reform and his opposition to Obamas executive actions on immigration. He was one of the so-called Gang of Eight senators who pushed for immigration reform that would have allowed a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants until the plan was killed by the House. Rubio has since said the big bill was a mistake and reform should be done in piecemeal, first through legislation to secure the border.

Thats his Achilles' heel, said Luis Alvarado, a Republican strategist with California consulting firm Revolvis. That will continue to resound until Election Day with all Latinos, and they will make him pay for that.

About two-thirds to three-fourths of Latinos favor less restrictive immigration policies and pathways to citizenship, saysJohn Garcia, a research professor at the Center for Political Studies at the University of Michigan. By siding with conservatives on immigration, Rubio is losing support among Latinos. If he were to win the Republican nomination and then adopt a more liberal stance on immigration, he runs the danger of alienating the GOP base. Rubios problem is that there is no sweet spot on immigration where he can appeal to both groups.

If there was a middle ground, some politicians would have found it by now, Garcia said. In fact, [immigration has] gotten more polarized over time.

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Immigration Reform And Marco Rubio 2016: Hispanics At Odds With Presidential Candidate

Seattle-based U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Zilly rejected the federal Justice Departments motion Monday to dismiss a lawsuit seeking to secure legal representation for undocumented children who faced deportation. The legal fight was one of several cases related to the governments handling of illegal immigration months after President Obama exercised executive authority to shield millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed the suit to advocate for a group of Salvadoran siblings who illegally entered America to escape gang violence. Federal officials asked Zilly to dismiss the case on jurisdictional grounds and argued it would be too expensive for the government to bankroll legal representation in immigration cases. Zilly ruled the immigrants' request for council constituted an argument for due process and required a legal response.

The Court is of the opinion the due process question plaintiffs have raised in this case is far too important to consign it, as defendants propose, to the perhaps perpetual loop of the administrative and judicial review process, Zilly's ruling said, according to Politico.

The unaccompanied children arrived in the country in 2013 after their father was killed in front of them by gang members outside their home. Federal officials found the children and located an unnamed family member, with whom they now live in Washington.

The ACLU has repeatedly questioned the federal governments use of immigration detention facilities to hold undocumented immigrants until a hearing to determine whether they will face deportation. The civil rights organization expressed disappointment last month when the federal government passed a new Department of Homeland Security funding bill that allocated more than $350 million toward these shelters.

Mandatory detention of people awaiting their immigration proceedings violates the right to due process and is inefficient and costly. Instead of funding immigration detention, Congress should appropriate money for community-based alternatives to detention with case management services, which have been proven to be effective and cost-efficient, the ACLU said in a statement.

Elsewhere, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments later this month and decide whether to lift Texas federal judge Andrew Hanens injunction which blocked the implementation of Obamas executive orders. Hanen approved the measure on behalf of 26 states, including Texas, who assert Obamas actions were unconstitutional.

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Immigration Reform 2015: Undocumented Children Allowed To Sue For Legal Representation, Judge Rules

A protester in front of Sen. Marco Rubio's Doral, Fla., office in 2013 urges Rubio to stop opposing the inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families in the Senate's immigration bill. Joe Raedle/Getty Images hide caption

A protester in front of Sen. Marco Rubio's Doral, Fla., office in 2013 urges Rubio to stop opposing the inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families in the Senate's immigration bill.

Navigating cultural issues like same-sex marriage and immigration has proved tricky for Republicans.

The country has grown rapidly more accepting of gay and lesbian marriage and relationships. And despite a shrinking base of white support and a fast-growing Latino population, Republicans have struggled to adjust.

Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida on Monday hours before announcing his run for president showed how he will try to chart a path through these choppy waters. He drew a fine line on gay rights when asked about his comments on the Indiana law allowing businesses to express their "religious freedom." And despite being one of the shepherds of comprehensive immigration reform in the Senate, he blamed his backing away from the measure on President Obama.

"I don't believe it's right for a florist to say, I'm not going to provide you flowers because you're gay," Rubio said in an interview with NPR's Steve Inskeep.

And yet, he still suggested there are proper grounds for a florist to refuse to serve a gay wedding.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., announces his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination during an event at the Freedom Tower in Miami. Joe Raedle/Getty Images hide caption

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., announces his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination during an event at the Freedom Tower in Miami.

"I think there's a difference between not providing services to a person because of their identity, who they are or who they love, and saying, I'm not going to participate in an event, a same-sex wedding, because that violates my religious beliefs. There's a distinction between those two things."

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As Country Changes, Rubio And Republicans Try To Adjust

A protester in front of Sen. Marco Rubio's Doral, Fla., office in 2013 urges Rubio to stop opposing the inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families in the Senate's immigration bill. Joe Raedle/Getty Images hide caption

A protester in front of Sen. Marco Rubio's Doral, Fla., office in 2013 urges Rubio to stop opposing the inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families in the Senate's immigration bill.

Navigating cultural issues like same-sex marriage and immigration has proved tricky for Republicans.

The country has grown rapidly more accepting of gay and lesbian marriage and relationships. And despite a shrinking base of white support and a fast-growing Latino population, Republicans have struggled to adjust.

Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida on Monday hours before announcing his run for president showed how he will try to chart a path through these choppy waters. He drew a fine line on gay rights when asked about his comments on the Indiana law allowing businesses to express their "religious freedom." And despite being one of the shepherds of comprehensive immigration reform in the Senate, he blamed his backing away from the measure on President Obama.

"I don't believe it's right for a florist to say, I'm not going to provide you flowers because you're gay," Rubio said in an interview with NPR's Steve Inskeep.

And yet, he still suggested there are proper grounds for a florist to refuse to serve a gay wedding.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., announces his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination during an event at the Freedom Tower in Miami. Joe Raedle/Getty Images hide caption

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., announces his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination during an event at the Freedom Tower in Miami.

"I think there's a difference between not providing services to a person because of their identity, who they are or who they love, and saying, I'm not going to participate in an event, a same-sex wedding, because that violates my religious beliefs. There's a distinction between those two things."

Originally posted here:
As Country Changes, Rubio, Republicans Try To Adjust