Thread: US Congress set for make-or-break debate on immigration

US Congress set for make-or-break debate on immigration

June 25, 2007

WASHINGTON - The US Congress takes up Tuesday 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 clamoring to stem what one critic called a foreign "invasion" of the United States.

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

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

Most observers believe that the bill will be shelved if it fails to make it through Congress this year, as it will get caught up in the political maelstrom of next year's presidential election.

"We're optimistic that the 60 votes will be there tomorrow," Joel Kaplan, White House deputy chief of staff for policy, told reporters on Monday.

"Our intelligence suggests that there will be the votes there to move on to the bill and to begin considering amendments ... We do not expect to fail this week," he added.

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 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 4.4 billion dollars 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" program.

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 "green card" 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."

Republican Senator Jeff Sessions took issue with Kennedy's confidence that the latest immigration bill would carry the 60 votes it needs in the 100-seat upper chamber to overcome blocking tactics by its critics.

"My impression is that the enthusiasm for this bill, even the votes for this bill, have been eroding," he told reporters Monday, adding that a recent poll showed support for the measure "plummeting" to 20 percent.

"So it does not have the support of the American people," he said.

Opponents say the Senate's Democratic leader, Harry Reid, has thwarted their attempts to make a genuine attempt to amend the huge bill.

But supporters accuse opponents of trying to bring up "killer amendments" to fracture the fragile cross-party coalition of bipartisan senators that negotiated it behind closed doors.

Top Democrats in the House of Representatives have also warned that Bush must cajole up to 70 Republicans to back the deal in the lower house, as it is likely to be spurned by Democratic lawmakers from conservative districts. AFP

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=82373

Opponents say the Senate's Democratic leader, Harry Reid, has thwarted their attempts to make a genuine attempt to amend the huge bill.

Reid is the biggest rat in that stinking pack of rodents masquerading as senators.

In his weekly radio address 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.

After I picked myself up off the floor because I was laughing so hard I fell down, let me say this...we have not enforced our borders since Eisenhower was President. We have illegal dirtballs in this country that have been deported 4 or more times that are still here due to our bloated and ineffective judicial process. All an illegal dirtball needs to do is contest the deportation order and the ring around the rosie starts, often with the illegal dirtball never being deported. And this is a country that can't even process passports and we're supposed to believe from Bush's lying mouth that (1) they'll even effectively intercept the dirtball crossing the border and (2) we're also supposed to believe that they'll neve get back in? What are they gonna be asked to do...promise they'll never come back. Yeah, Bush would take that as success because afterall, they are all hardworking family oriented people that are here to do the jobs Americans won't. Bush is an idiot liar but the problem is that he's President. Aren't we lucky???

Are YOU the SINGING BUSH?? …Lucky Day/The Three Amigos