Immigration debate moves to Senate floor

Alan Gomez, USA TODAY 10:33 a.m. EDT June 7, 2013


Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., started off the debate on immigration on the Senate floor on Friday.(Photo: Susan Walsh AP)
Story Highlights

  • Senate begins month-long debate on immigration bill
  • Reid says bill is sound and should be voted on by end of the month
  • Sessions says the bill does not do enough to secure borders, protect U.S. workers


WASHINGTON -- The effort to pass a major overhaul of the nation's immigration laws has made it to the Senate floor, where debate began this morning on whether to move the proposed legislation forward.
Senators are not yet debating the specifics of the bill, but whether the full Senate should take up the bill.
Yet today's discussion on the Senate floor represents the beginning of what is could be a month-long debate on the bill that has prompted much dissension on all sides.
The bill, drafted by a bipartisan group of senators known as the Gang of Eight, would represent the biggest change in the nation's immigration laws in a generation. It would allow the nation's 11 million unauthorized immigrants to apply for U.S. citizenship, bolster border security and revamp the legal immigration system to bring in more high-tech and lower-skilled workers on temporary work visas.
Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., who has emerged as one of the most outspoken critics of the bill, has reserved three hours to argue against the bill and will be joined by other Republicans skeptical of the plan. They believe it grants "amnesty" to unauthorized immigrants, does not do enough to secure the border and brings in too many foreign workers who will take jobs from unemployed Americans.
"The legislation that's been offered by the Gang of Eight says they've fixed it. Don't worry," Sessions said Friday morning. "Well, it won't do that."
Senate Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., opened the morning saying he was encouraged by the work of the bipartisan group of senators that drafted the bill, and said he hoped the Senate would vote on it before the July 4 recess. He said he heard from several pollsters in recent days who all said that Americans are open and ready for the immigration overhaul.
"They all acknowledge that the vast majority of American people want us to move forward on this - Democrats, Republicans and Independents. And they all agree on a pathway to citizenship," Reid said.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/06/07/senate-begins-immigration-debate/2399875/