Senators Tillis, Sinema revive talks on potential immigration deal during lame-duck session

Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., are reviving talks on a potential immigration agreement that would see a pathway to citizenship combined with border security measures -- an effort to see if there is appetite for a reform bill before Republicans take the House early next year.

Sources familiar with negotiations told Fox News that the two lawmakers have a draft framework for discussion that would see a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants protected (or eligible for protection) from deportation by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program combined with border security funding. A Senate aide stressed that the discussions are in a very early stage and that the senators are circulating the framework to see if there is interest and a potential agreement. Another said that it was incorrect at this stage to describe the draft as a "deal."

The border security measures would include keeping Title 42 -- a Trump-era public health order that has been used to expel a majority of migrants at the border, but that is due to be wound down later this month -- in place for at least one year, with a metric component in place for extensions.