Highest immigration hurdles yet to come
By: Carrie Budoff and Patrick O'Connor
Jun 26, 2007 06:54 PM EST

The bill could prompt the most significant overhaul of the nation's immigration laws in decades.

Minutes after the immigration bill cleared a significant test vote Tuesday, as the measure's proponents reveled in a nearby hallway, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) and Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, the chief Republican advocate, were locked in conversation.

It was back to the negotiations, because the hurdles that lie ahead for the immigration overhaul bill could pale in comparison to the one it jumped Tuesday.

There could be killer amendments and budget points of order and calls from all sides to abandon the bill.

So Reid and Kyl, along with Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.), huddled largely unnoticed in a busy public reception room off the Senate floor and hashed out their next move.

"We need to make sure everyone is on the same page," Salazar said.

For Tuesday, at least, they succeeded.

Senators voted, 64-35, to reopen debate on the bill. Twenty-four Republicans -- more than twice the amount that supported a similar motion three weeks ago -- joined 39 Democrats and an independent. Twenty-five Republicans, nine Democrats and an independent voted no.

"We are confident of Senate passage because we look at the alternative, and the alternative is nothing," said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who has been negotiating the bill on behalf of President Bush.

Check back Wednesday, when senators begin to cast votes on two dozen amendments, many of which could cause the delicately crafted bipartisan bill to fall apart. And keep an eye on the House, where the Republican conference Tuesday night voiced its opposition by passing a one-sentence resolution from Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.): "Resolved, the House GOP Conference disapproves of the Senate immigration bill."

"Clearly, many of our members have problems with the Senate bill," said Minority Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri, the top GOP vote-counter in the House.

Rep. Mark Souder (R-Ind.) offered a less-varnished assessment: "It is dead on arrival."

Bill proponents played down the move, saying critics needed to offer an alternative.

"They will have a chance to do what we have done: sit down and try to find a better solution," said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who has helped negotiate the bill. "To do nothing is to perpetuate a silent amnesty. It is a national security issue of the highest importance."

Tuesday night, a small group of Senate Republicans, led by Sen. Jim DeMint, (R-S.C.), attempted to slow down the bill. They objected to Reid's attempt to move the bill without reading each of the 25 amendments that would come up for a vote this week. So, Senate clerks began reading the amendments.

After about 45 minutes, the Republicans agreed to halt the reading.

The bill could prompt the most significant overhaul of the nation's immigration laws in decades. It would set out a pathway for the existing 12 million illegal immigrants to earn legal status, create a system for employers to verify a worker's status, establish a temporary worker program and beef up border security.

Critics, however, say the bill is unworkable and riddled with mandates that could take years to fulfill.

Bush, who, along with Chertoff and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, had been urging senators to revive the debate, said Tuesday that the White House will stay involved in pushing the bill.

"Our view is, if the status quo is unacceptable, we need to replace it with something that is acceptable and have been working toward that end with both Democrats and Republicans in the Senate," Bush said. "We'll be moving our attention to the House when the Senate passes a comprehensive piece of legislation."

It won't be easy, judging from the resistance from House Republicans.

Hoekstra offered the largely symbolic resolution in a closed-door meeting Tuesday morning, surprising many of the lawmakers present. Leaders were eventually forced to postpone the internal vote because not enough members were in attendance, but they took it up again Tuesday night.

Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), an outspoken backer of comprehensive reform whose bill is the model for House legislation, called the Hoekstra resolution premature since the Senate has not yet voted on whether to proceed with the legislation. "I don't think it's very good form," Flake said.

Other members were upset that the leadership failed to warn them in advance that Hoekstra planned to offer his resolution.

House Republicans approved the Hoekstra measure Tuesday night with 114 members supporting it and 23 members opposing it, dealing the White House a major blow because Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has asked the president to corral 70 Republican votes before she would bring the measure to the floor.

House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) told Bush what he expected to happen during a White House meeting earlier in the day, and the Republican leader said Bush told him, "I understand."

"Our members spoke strongly in opposition to the Senate bill,â€