With the immigration reform bill facing a critical “test” vote today, Senate proponents continue to try creating a bill that will have the necessary votes to pass, in turn voting out potentially contentious amendments from both sides. Supporters of the bill must achieve 60 votes to limit debate, opening the door to a potential roll call for final passage, potentially as early as Friday. If not, it is likely that the legislation will die and won’t be revisited until a new president and Congress take office in 2009. While the Border Trade Alliance (BTA) does not have an official position on immigration reform, there are several components to the bill have implications for travel and secure trade, not to mention great interest from our Border Communities in North America at large. BTA will continue to monitor the efforts in the Senate to bring about immigration reform and will continue to report any advances to our members as they become available.
U.S. senators struggle over immigration reform bill - Reuters
WASHINGTON, June 27 - Senate leaders seeking to overhaul U.S. immigration laws struggled on Wednesday to beat back the opposition before a make-or-break vote on the bill supported by President George W. Bush. Backers were able to block several amendments they said would have undermined the fragile compromise negotiated by a group of Democratic and Republican senators and the White House. But they failed to block a measure that would change identification requirements for workers, keeping the bill’s ultimate fate in doubt. Republican opponents engaged in a procedural jousting match with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, throughout the day in an effort to kill the bill. Read the full article…
Immigration bill faces critical vote - Houston Chronicle
WASHINGTON — President Bush, scrambling to salvage his imperiled immigration bill, called senators early Thursday morning to rally support before a crucial test vote. But conservative Republicans urged colleagues to kill the bill in a heated hour of debate before the vote. The government must secure the borders before allowing millions of illegal aliens a path to legal status, they said. “Americans feel that they are losing their country … to a government that has seemed to not have the competence or the ability to carry out the things that is says it will do,” said Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn. Read the full article…
Senate kills several amendments to the immigration reform bill - Blogger Network
The bipartisan immigration reform bill is so far, surviving a mine field of both Democratic and Republican amendments today, and it looks like the bill will move on to a critical procedure vote on Thursday. The procedural vote requires 60 votes to pass, and if the bill falls short of this number, it will probably be dead. The Senate killed several Republican amendments, including one by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison that were designed to toughen up the bill, and make it more appealing to conservative Republicans. The Hutchison amendment would have required all illegal immigrants to temporarily return home, in order to qualify for legal status. The current bill only forces the head of a household to return home before the family can gain legal status. After her amendment was voted down, Hutchison said, “I don’t see how I could support this bill in any form.” Read the full article…
Fact Sheet: Bipartisan Border Security and Immigration Reform Bill -Senate Bill Represents The Best Chance To Reform Our Broken Immigration System - Whitehouse.gov
President Bush Urges Members Of Both Parties To Support The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill Now In The Senate. The status quo is unacceptable – by acting now, we can ensure that our laws are respected, that our borders are secure, that the needs of our economy are met, and that our Nation helps newcomers assimilate. The Lessons Of History Are Clear: All Elements Of This Issue Must Be Addressed Together – Or None Of Them Will Be Solved At All. Illegal immigration is a serious problem that has been growing for decades. Past efforts to address it have failed because they did not do enough to secure our Nation’s borders, failed to address the underlying economic reasons behind illegal immigration, and failed to provide sensible ways for employers to verify the legal status of the workers they hire. Read the full article…
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