Thread: IMMIGRATION DEAL SURVIVES SENATE THREAT

Immigration Deal Survives Senate Threat

By CHARLES BABINGTON
North County Times
June 6, 2007

WASHINGTON - A proposed immigration overhaul narrowly survived strong Senate challenges Wednesday, boosting its backers' hopes that the fiercely debated legislation might soon win passage and advance to the House.

Senators first turned back a Republican bid to reduce the number of illegal immigrants who could gain lawful status. Hours later, they rejected a Democrat's effort to postpone the bill's shift to an emphasis on education and skills among visa applicants as opposed to family connections.

Both amendments were seen as potentially fatal blows to the fragile coalition backing the bill, which remains under attack from the right and left. The bill _ which would tighten borders and give many of the country's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants a pathway to legal status _ is a priority for President Bush.

The long day and night of votes contained some setbacks for the coalition's leaders, however. They failed to defeat a Republican proposal to give law enforcement agents access to rejected visa applications, which could lead to the arrest and deportation of some illegal immigrants who otherwise might escape detection.

On balance, however, the coalition's "grand bargainers" felt they had withstood their toughest challenges. "This means people want a bill very badly," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

The Senate voted 51-46 to reject a proposal by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, to bar criminals _ including those ordered by judges to be deported _ from gaining legal status. Democrats siphoned support from Cornyn's proposal by winning adoption of a rival version that would bar a more limited set of criminals, including certain gang members and sex offenders, from gaining legalization. The Senate backed that amendment 66-32.

The Senate also rejected a proposal by Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., that bill supporters called a "killer amendment." It would have delayed the bill's shift in favor of attracting foreign workers with needed skills as opposed to keeping families together. Menendez won 53 votes, seven short of the 60 needed under a Senate procedural rule invoked by his opponents.

Menendez's proposal would have allowed more than 800,000 people who had applied for permanent legal status by the beginning of 2007 to obtain green cards based purely on their family connections _ a preference the bill ends for most relatives who got in line after May 2005.

Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., a chief advocate of the bill, said most of the visa applicants Menendez wanted to help are so far back in line that it would be decades before the Homeland Security Department could process them. The Senate adopted Kyl's alternative, which would retain the family preference status for applicants who might win approval by 2026 under the department's projections.

Menendez, whose parents were Cuban immigrants, called the Kyl amendment "a fig leaf" that would make no meaningful change to the bill.

Cornyn had painted his criminals amendment as a "defining issue" for any presidential candidate _ a sign of the degree to which the contentious debate is bleeding over into the GOP campaign fray.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., alone among his party's presidential aspirants in backing the immigration measure, opposed Cornyn's bid and backed the Democratic alternative offered by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass.

McCain was joined in opposing the amendment by the Senate's four Democratic presidential hopefuls, Sens. Joe Biden of Delaware, Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, Chris Dodd of Connecticut, and Barack Obama of Illinois.

After his defeat, Cornyn said those who voted against the proposal "failed to take an opportunity to help restore public confidence that we're actually serious about passing an immigration law that could actually work."

Cornyn prevailed on another matter opposed by the grand bargainers, however. His amendment, adopted 57 to 39, would make it easier to locate and deport illegal immigrants whose visa applications are rejected.

The bill would have barred law enforcement agencies from seeing applications for so-called Z visas, which can lead to citizenship if granted. Cornyn said legal authorities should know if applicants have criminal records that would warrant their deportation.

Opponents said eligible applicants might be afraid to file applications if they believe they are connected to deportation actions. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said in an interview that Cornyn's amendment was "not a deal-killer" but would have to be changed in House-Senate negotiations.

Other amendments defeated Wednesday included a Democratic effort to alter the temporary guest worker program that would be created by the bill.

Sen. Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico wanted to allow workers to come for six consecutive years. The Senate voted 57-41 to reject the amendment, retaining the bill's call for most guest workers to go home for a year between each of three two-year stints.

The Senate also rejected an amendment by Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., to change the Z visa program whereby illegal immigrants could gain lawful status. DeMint proposed requiring them to buy high-deductible health plans to be eligible for visas.

Associated Press writer Julie Hirschfeld David contributed to this report.

A service of the Associated Press(AP)

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/06 ... jm4n82.txt

Immigration Bill in Doubt After Vote

By CHARLES BABINGTON
North County Times

JUNE 7, 2007

WASHINGTON - A fragile compromise that would legalize millions of unlawful immigrants risks coming unraveled after the Senate voted early Thursday to place a five-year limit on a program meant to provide U.S. employers with 200,000 temporary foreign workers annually.

The 49-48 vote came two weeks after the Senate, also by a one-vote margin, rejected the same amendment by Sen. Byron Dorgan. The North Dakota Democrat says immigrants take many jobs Americans could fill.

The reversal dismayed backers of the immigration bill, which is supported by President Bush but loathed by many conservatives. Business interests and their congressional allies were already angry that the temporary worker program had been cut in half from its original 400,000-person-a-year target.


A five-year sunset, they said, could knock the legs from the precarious bipartisan coalition aligned with the White House. The Dorgan amendment "is a tremendous problem, but it's correctable," said Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa. The coalition will try as early as Thursday to persuade at least one senator to help reverse the outcome yet again, he said.

Until the Dorgan vote was tallied, Specter and other leaders of the so-called "grand bargain" on immigration had enjoyed a fairly good day.

They had turned back a bid to reduce the number of illegal immigrants who could gain lawful status. They also defeated an effort to postpone the bill's shift to an emphasis on education and skills among visa applicants as opposed to family connections.

And they fended off an amendment, by Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., that would have ended a new point system for those seeking permanent resident "green cards" after five years rather than 14 years.

All three amendments were seen as potentially fatal blows to the bill, which would tighten borders, hike penalties for those who hire illegals and give many of the country's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants a pathway to legal status.

The Senate voted 51-46 to reject a proposal by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, to bar criminals _ including those ordered by judges to be deported _ from gaining legal status. Democrats siphoned support from Cornyn's proposal by winning adoption, 66-32, of a rival version that would bar a more limited set of criminals, including certain gang members and sex offenders, from gaining legalization.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., alone among his party's presidential aspirants in backing the immigration measure, opposed Cornyn's bid and backed the Democratic alternative offered by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass.

Senators also rejected a proposal by Robert Menendez, D-N.J., that would have delayed the bill's shift in favor of attracting foreign workers with needed skills as opposed to keeping families together. Menendez won 53 votes, seven short of the 60 needed under a Senate procedural rule invoked by his opponents.

Menendez's proposal would have allowed more than 800,000 people who had applied for permanent legal status by the beginning of 2007 to obtain green cards based purely on their family connections _ a preference the bill ends for most relatives who got in line after May 2005.

Meanwhile, Sen. Hillary R. Clinton, D-N.Y., fell short in her bid to remove limits on visas for the spouses and minor children of immigrants with permanent resident status.

While several Cornyn amendments failed, he prevailed on one matter opposed by the grand bargainers. That amendment, adopted 57 to 39, would make it easier to locate and deport illegal immigrants whose visa applications are rejected.

The bill would have barred law enforcement agencies from seeing applications for so-called Z visas, which can lead to citizenship if granted. Cornyn said legal authorities should know if applicants have criminal records that would warrant their deportation.

Opponents said eligible applicants might be afraid to file applications if they believe they are connected to deportation actions. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said in an interview that Cornyn's amendment was "not a deal-killer" but would have to be changed in House-Senate negotiations.

A service of the Associated Press(AP)

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/06 ... jt1to0.txt

Moment of truth for US immigration bill

by Stephen Collinson
Thu Jun 7, 3:36 AM ET


WASHINGTON (AFP) - A landmark attempt to reform US immigration laws and grant a path to citizenship for around 12 million illegal immigrants faces its most crucial test yet in a moment of high political drama Thursday.

Democratic Senate Majority leader Harry Reid has scheduled a device known as a cloture vote on limiting time for debate on the package, in an effort to force it through the Senate this week.

Republicans, many of whom are under intense pressure from conservative supporters over the bill, have however complained that Reid's move would thwart a sheaf of amendments they wish to debate, and want more time.

Reid needs 60 votes to move the bill forward in the closely divided Senate. He has said he would shelve the legislation if the cloture vote fails.

That could be fatal for the bill, as any attempt to bring it back to the Senate floor later this year or early next year would mean it would land square in the political maelstrom of congressional and presidential elections in 2008.

The bill, agreed last month with the White House, is intended to bring undocumented workers out of the shadows, establish a merit-based points system for future immigrants and forge a low-wage temporary worker program.

It includes a border security crackdown, punishments for employers who hire illegal immigrants and an attempt to wipe out a backlog of visa applications from those who have gone through legal immigration channels.

If it passes, the measure would form a key plank of President George W. Bush's legacy. But the measure has attracted fierce opposition and been branded an amnesty for illegal immigrants by conservative groups.

Earlier, the Senate voted 51 to 46 to knock back the measure on depriving benefits to immigrants with certain criminal convictions and irregularities in documentation, after critics said it would have disqualified too many people.

Supporters of the bill said the amendment, framed by Texas Senator John Cornyn, would have fractured the fragile cross-party coalition trying to push the landmark bill through the Senate.

The measure would have barred any immigrant who had violated a deportation order or used false documents, among other offenses.

Moments before the vote, Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer had lambasted the measure as "a stealth, trojan horse amendment," and pleaded with senators for the controversial legislation to oppose it.

One substitute amendment did pass. Put forward by one of the immigration bill's architects Senator Edward Kennedy, it disqualified applicants who are gang members, members of terrorist groups, smugglers or those who have repeat drink-driving convictions. But it dropped language on deportation orders.

US Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, another architect of the legislation, is urging lawmakers to avoid making changes that could tear it apart.

In an interview with AFP, Gutierrez said he feared that amendments could "break" a fragile compromise that was reached between the White House and Republican and Democratic senators three weeks ago after intense negotiations.

"The biggest risk would be the introduction of amendments," Gutierrez said in the interview in Spanish.

Republican Senator Jeff Sessions, who opposes much of the bill's content, said support for the measure was beginning to fade.

"I think enthusiasm is waning for the legislation," Sessions told reporters.

"If it goes through, it is going to be limping through without the kind of momentum it started out with."

If the measure passes the Senate, it will go the House of Representatives, where is it assured a rocky reception, and passage is not guaranteed.

The House and Senate versions of the bill would then have to be reconciled before it is sent to the president to be signed into law.


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