Napolitano was interrupted three times by activists protesting the deportation policy.
Republicans said those efforts have been insufficient.
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Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) said he feared that despite discussions to pair better border security and new enforcement mechanisms with a path to citizenship, the efforts would instead amount to “amnesty only.”
“There’s a lot of overconfidence about this bill,” Sessions said, promising that if he thinks the legislation advanced by the bipartisan group does not include provisions to halt illegal immigration, “we’re going to expose it.”
“It will not pass,” he added.
Still, congressional negotiations on immigration have kicked into high gear in recent weeks. Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), who chairs the Judiciary Committee — which will be the gateway to Senate legislation — promised to quickly move legislation to the floor.
Republican leaders signaled a willingness to entertain the discussion by asking Rubio, another member of the Senate working group, to rebut Obama’s speech Tuesday.
In an interview with NBC’s “Today” show, House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) praised the Senate group — and a parallel effort underway in the House — for the efforts.
“I would hope that the Senate players could continue to work in a bipartisan fashion,” he said. “That’s the only way we’re going to be able to address the big issues that face our country.”
Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.), who has been negotiating with a bipartisan group of House members on the issue, told reporters that his group could roll out legislation “within the next few weeks.”
Among those who testified at the Senate hearing Wednesday were Steve Case, former chief executive of AOL; Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees union representative Chris Crane; and Jose Antonio Vargas, a former Washington Post reporter who revealed in 2011 that he arrived in the country illegally as a child. Immigrant advocates said it was the first time an undocumented person had addressed a congressional hearing.
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