Thread: Senators battle over immigration overhaul

Senators battle over immigration overhaul

By Donna Smith
46 minutes ago



Senate leaders seeking to overhaul U.S. immigration laws struggled on Wednesday to beat back the opposition ahead of a make or break vote on the bill supported by President George W. Bush.

Backers were able to block a number of amendments they said would have undermined the fragile compromise negotiated by a group of Democratic and Republican senators and the White House.

Republican opponents engaged in a procedural jousting match with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, throughout the day on Wednesday in an effort to kill the bill.

A crucial vote on Thursday will determine whether it will advance toward a final Senate vote and on to the U.S. House of Representatives.

"This is not an open, fair process," said Sen. David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican, complaining he and other opponents had been shut out of the process.

Sen. Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican who has been leading the battle for the immigration bill, acknowledged that supporters "have been struggling" to keep it alive.

"We have found objections on all sides," Specter said. "We have found objections on the right that it is amnesty. We have found objections on the left that it does not satisfy humanitarian needs and provide for family reunification."

Bush has sought an overhaul of U.S. immigration laws for years and this bill may be his last chance for a significant domestic legislative victory before leaving office in a year and a half.

But Bush has encountered fierce opposition from many fellow Republicans who say it would do little to stem the flow of illegal immigration into the United States.

The bill ties tough border security and workplace enforcement measures to a plan to legalize an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants and create a temporary worker program sought by business groups.

Senators beat back an amendment that would have required illegal immigrants to return to their home country within two years in order to obtain a "Z" visa that would allow them to live and work legally in the United States. The Senate is expected to later consider a less stringent amendment requiring heads of households to return to their home countries.

Senators also killed a measure that would have limited the legalization program to those who have lived in the United States at least four years.

Another measure that would have blocked illegal immigrants from becoming U.S. citizens also failed, and senators defeated an amendment that would have given more weight to family ties in a new merit based system for future immigrants.

Republican opponents say momentum is building against the legislation they call an amnesty for people who broke U.S. laws.

If supporters fail on Thursday to win the 60 votes necessary to advance legislation in the 100-member Senate, lawmakers are unlikely to return to comprehensive immigration reform before next year's presidential election.

Immigration has already become an issue in the campaign and if the bill does pass the Senate, it faces even stiffer opposition from Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The bill also faces opposition from some labor unions, who say its temporary worker program will create an underclass of cheap laborers, and many immigrant groups, who object to the bill's limits on family migration.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070627/pl_ ... ation_dc_5

Senators also killed a measure that would have limited the legalization program to those who have lived in the United States at least four years.

I believe that was Webb's admendment and he stated he would vote NO on cloture if it failed.