Bid to end temporary-worker program rejected
Proposal is one of two narrowly defeated by the Senate


THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON

Proponents of a broad immigration bill narrowly beat back potentially fatal challenges yesterday, including an effort to phase out the temporary-worker program.

The Senate rejected, 49-48, a proposal by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., to end the temporary-worker program after five years. Republican Sens. Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr of North Carolina voted against the proposal.

Earlier, by the same margin, senators voted down a proposal by Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., to allow government authorities to question people about their immigration status if they had probable cause to suspect that the people were in the United States illegally. Dole and Burr voted for the proposal.

The razor-thin votes illustrated the tenuous nature of the immigration bill, which would grant an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants legal status while improving border security and workplace enforcement. But the defeats also showed the durability of the unlikely coalition that cut the deal and is fiercely lobbying rank-and-file senators to preserve it.

“We are still together, and we’re moving forward,â€