Scroll down to see what the open borders groups are doing --so keep making OUR calls to these senators and others!

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Senators Webb, Tester, McCaskill are key votes

By Manu Raju
June 20, 2007
Three centrists whose razor-thin election victories in November tipped control of the Senate to the Democrats now hold potentially decisive swing votes on the immigration measure the chamber will try to revive later this week.

All three Democratic freshman senators — Jim Webb (Va.), Jon Tester (Mont.) and Claire McCaskill (Mo.) — voted against efforts by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to shut down debate over the measure earlier this month. The freshmen each have controversial amendments in the package that will be considered once the Senate moves to resume debate later this week. And no member is decided on how he or she will vote on the underlying bill.

How these Democrats approach the debate is one of a host of obstacles the legislation’s supporters face as the Senate attempts to complete the immigration bill by next week. Yesterday a number of Republicans lashed out at what they said were unfair tactics by Reid to limit the Senate’s second attempt on the immigration bill to 24 amendments, but key negotiators on both sides of the aisle vowed to keep the process moving.

The freshman Democrats’ votes not only will have major repercussions on the fate of the bill, but also for their own local political standing. Hard-line illegal immigration foes from the new members’ respective states are bombarding their offices with telephone calls to oppose proceeding to the bill, while left-leaning groups, which were critical in bolstering support for each of their candidacies in states President Bush carried in 2004, are using similar tactics.

Webb, who may be facing the greatest backlash of the three moderates, is proposing an amendment that has been denounced by members of Virginia’s immigrant communities. The amendment would add criteria for 12 million illegal immigrants trying to qualify for “Z visasâ€