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WASHINGTON


27-Jun-07

THE United States Congress yesterday takes up a divisive bill balancing border security and the documentation of 12 million illegal aliens, in a make-or-break debate that could scuttle immigration reform until after the 2008 presidential election.

The bill, resurrected after losing a procedural vote two weeks ago, pits lawmakers from both the Republican and Democratic parties eager to resolve the growing presence of undocumented workers, against those clamouring to stem what one critic called a foreign "invasion" of the United States.

The Senate is expected to vote on whether to allow debate to proceed on revised legislation that emphasises tighter borders and law enforcement.

President George W Bush has put immigration reform at the top of his domestic agenda and has been busy trying to muster the 60 votes needed to prevent blocking tactics by its opponents and move the bill to full debate.

Bush's Republican administration aims to pass a bill that "puts border security first," Joel Kaplan, the White House deputy chief of staff for policy, told reporters last Monday.

"It gives employers the tools they need to verify the status of the workers that they hire; it provides a legal and orderly way to match willing foreign workers to jobs Americans aren't filling and which our economy demands."

Most observers believe the bill will be shelved if it fails to make it through Congress this year, as it will get drowned by events in next year's presidential election.

"We're optimistic that the 60 votes will be there tomorrow," Kaplan said. "We do not expect to fail this week."

Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy, one of chief backers of the immigration overhaul, was also optimistic.

"I believe we will pass the bill, and I think we have good support among the Republican Party," Kennedy said on ABC television. "And the reason we're going to pass this bill is because it's tough, fair and practical."

In his weekly radio address last Saturday, Bush revealed that under the revised Senate bill, people slipping into the United States illegally will not only be deported, but never allowed to enter the country again.

The measure contains US$4.4 billion to help the US Border Patrol hire 3,500 more agents, build additional fencing, and buy infrared cameras and other technologies to intercept illegal aliens attempting to cross from Mexico.

"Only after these enforcement tools are in place will certain other parts of the bill go into effect," Bush said.

The sweeping overhaul grants a path to legal status to illegal immigrants and initiates a low-wage "guest worker" programme. The bill would also replace the current family-dominated immigration system with a merit-based points formula, and attempt to cut a huge backlog for permanent resident applicants.

Conservative commentator Pat Buchanan called the provision granting legal status "amnesty, pure and simple," adding that the bill would sanction "an invasion of this country."AFP