Senate bill survives, advances to big vote
WASHINGTON -- The Senate's revived legislation to legalize millions of illegal immigrants faces a critical test today after surviving potentially fatal challenges but shedding some supporters.
Attempts from the right and left to alter elements of the bipartisan compromise failed Wednesday, including a Republican plan to deny illegal immigrants a path to citizenship and Democratic bids to reunite legal immigrants with family members.
Legislative aides in both parties predicted today's vote would be close but would fall short of keeping the proposal alive.
Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., an opponent, on Wednesday night told The Washington Post: "They tried to railroad this through today, but we derailed the train."
Another opponent, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said, "I would say to my colleagues let's end this thing."
Nevada's senators split on most of the amendments considered Wednesday.
The Senate killed, by a 56-41 vote, an amendment by Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., to provide more green cards for parents of U.S. citizens.
By a 55-40 margin, the Senate tabled a proposal by Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., to give family members of citizens and legal permanent residents more credit toward green cards in a new merit-based points system.
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev. voted in favor of the Dodd amendment and the Menendez amendment.
Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., voted against the amendments.
A make-or-break procedural vote was set for today as the Senate plowed through a half-dozen amendments that supporters hoped would address waverers' concerns.
Facing opposition from conservatives who call the bill amnesty, leaders need 60 votes to keep the measure alive and complete it as early as Friday.
If it does not get the 60 votes necessary, Reid, the Senate majority leader, has said he will pull the bill, all but dashing hopes for any legislation this year.
The Senate on Wednesday killed several proposals designed to answer conservatives' concerns that the bill, championed by President Bush, is lenient toward illegal immigrants.
Among the amendments was one by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, to require all adult illegal immigrants to return home temporarily to qualify for permanent lawful status. The current bill requires only heads of household seeking permanent legal residency to return home to apply for green cards.
"I don't see how I could support this bill in any form," Hutchison said after the vote. She had characterized her proposal as a way of removing "the amnesty tag" from the legislation.
Ensign voted for the Hutchison amendment.
Reid voted against the amendment. A spokesman said that the bill already requires heads of households to return home and that Reid thought Hutchison's plan was "punitive."
"Think about what that would mean for families in China and South Africa," Reid aide Jon Summers said. The expense "doesn't encourage people to go through the legal steps to go through legal citizenship."
Also, the requirement would strain the State Department, which already is having difficulties meeting increased demands for passports, Summers said.
An amendment by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., that would have restricted legal status applications to those who have been in the United States for four years was defeated. The bill would allow anyone in the U.S. as of Jan. 1 to be eligible.
Reid and Ensign both voted to defeat the Webb amendment.
A bid by Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., to deny green cards to illegal immigrants also failed.
Ensign voted for the Bond amendment, while Reid voted to kill it.
The bill, which would toughen border security and institute a new system for weeding out illegal immigrants from workplaces, could face more challenges even if it survives today's 60-vote test.
Particularly worrisome to backers of the bill is an amendment by Sens. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Max Baucus, D-Mont., to overhaul the employee verification system.
Grasping for more GOP support, Republican framers of the bill were proposing their own, less burdensome return-home requirement for illegal immigrants. It would apply only to heads of household and would give them three years.
Votes on amendments took place Wednesday under a carefully orchestrated procedure designed to overcome stalling tactics by conservative foes.
It allowed votes only on a limited list of amendments, and tensions ran high on the usually courtly Senate floor, where Reid was keeping a tight rein on the debate to prevent critics from derailing the bill.
Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault contributed to this report.
IMMIGRATION BILL PROVISIONS
• Allows illegal immigrants who were in the country as of Jan. 1 to gain a "Z visa" if they pay fees and fines and pass a background check. Allows them to get on a path to citizenship after waiting in line, paying more fines, holding down jobs and learning English. Heads of households would have to return to their home countries to apply for green cards.
• Creates a new temporary worker program that would allow up to 200,000 guest workers per year to enter on two-year "Y" visas that could be renewed twice, provided they returned to their home countries for a year between each stint. Sunsets the program after five years.
• Prevents the "Y" and "Z" visa programs from taking effect until security and enforcement triggers are met, including adding 20,000 border agents, 370 miles of fencing, 300 miles of vehicle barriers and a new worker verification system to bar the hiring of illegal workers. Provides an immediate $4.4 billion for the measures.
• Creates an employment-based point system for new immigrants to qualify for green cards based on their education and skill level, and eliminates or limits visa preferences for family members of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
