It looks like some unions are against immigration reform and so are many Hispanics who are legally here. The legal Hispanics have concerns that they will not be able to bring their relatives over due to the changes. It is nice to see more people who have woke up and smelled the coffee.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/ ... -news-sfla

Senators push for support of immigration overhaul

Kennedy predicts passage of legislation

By Jonathan Peterson
Los Angeles Times
Posted June 25 2007


WASHINGTON Senators seeking to overhaul U.S. immigration laws urged fellow legislators Sunday to move forward this week with a plan that would strengthen enforcement along U.S. borders and then launch provisions for undocumented workers to stay legally in this country.

"There has to be detention of people coming across the border," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., a supporter of the immigration bill. "So there will be border enforcement, 3,500 additional border patrol, before any other part of the bill goes into place. People don't understand that."

Feinstein's remarks came as the Senate prepares for a possible showdown this week on the fiercely contested effort to overhaul U.S. immigration policy. On Sunday, legislators made various predictions of the outcome.

A procedural vote to reconsider the legislation, which was temporarily shelved this month in a dispute over amendments, would require 60 votes for approval in the Senate, which is divided between members who seek to give some legal status to 12 million undocumented workers and lawmakers who oppose such a move. That vote is scheduled for Tuesday.

"We'll see if between the two parties we have 60 votes," Feinstein said on Fox News Sunday. "And I'm hopeful that we will."

Appearing on ABC's This Week, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., predicted that the bill would prevail, while Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., maintained it was losing support among the public and key senators.

"We're going to use every effort to slow this process down and continue to hold up the bill," said Sessions, who argued that the bill was too easy on illegal immigrants. "We need to go back, re-evaluate it, and create something we can be proud of."

The immigration bill ran into fire this month in the Senate, where some legislators argued that it did not go far enough in securing U.S. borders. To revive their effort, supporters of the immigration bill agreed to accept many new amendments, and advocates on all sides are pushing hard.

Critics have complained that the bill would create a process through which many immigrants now here illegally could achieve legal permanent residence and, ultimately, citizenship.

The measure also would enhance border-control technology and require tamper-proof identification cards for guest workers.

Supporters of the bill include President Bush, who used his Saturday radio address to try to stir support for the plan. Bush described the bill as "an historic opportunity to uphold America's tradition of welcoming" immigrants.

"The status quo is unacceptable," he said. "With this program in place, employers will have a practical system to fill jobs Americans are not doing, and foreign workers will have a legal way to apply for them."

Some Hispanic advocates have grown uncomfortable with the efforts to increase the hurdles toward legalization and emphasize worker skills over the traditional value of family ties as a reason to allow an individual to immigrate. Organized labor is also split on the matter, with some unions wary of a stronger guest-worker program. The AFL-CIO last week formally came out against the bill.

"You know, I'm not committed to voting for the final product," said Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., on Fox News Sunday. "The wheels may come off. But I am committed to trying."