Posted on 06/27/2007 3:00:09 PM PDT by mdittmar
The Senate's revived legislation to legalize millions of unlawful immigrants faces a critical test Thursday after surviving potentially fatal challenges.
Attempts from the right and left to alter key elements of the delicate bipartisan compromise failed Wednesday, including a Republican proposal to deny illegal immigrants a path to citizenship and Democratic bids to reunite legal immigrants with family members.
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, it 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.
A make-or-break procedural vote was set for Thursday, however, as the Senate plowed through amendments that supporters hoped would address waverers' concerns.
Facing determined opposition from conservatives who call the bill amnesty, leaders need 60 votes to keep the measure alive and complete it as early as Friday.
The Senate on Wednesday killed several proposals designed to answer conservatives' concerns that the bill, championed by President Bush, is overly 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.
An amendment by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., also defeated, would have restricted legal status applications to those who have been in the United States for four years. The bill would allow anyone in the U.S. as of Jan. 1, 2007, to be eligible.
A bid by Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., to deny green cards to unlawful immigrants also failed.
The bill, which also would toughen border security and institute a new system for weeding out illegal immigrants from workplaces, is facing more challenges.
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 key amendments were continuing Wednesday under a complex and carefully orchestrated procedure designed to overcome stalling tactics by conservative foes. It allowed votes only on a limited list of amendments before Thursday's critical test vote.
Tensions ran high on the usually courtly Senate floor, where Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., was keeping a tight rein on the debate to prevent critics from derailing the bill.
Conservatives, irate at a process that has essentially stymied their ability to filibuster, said Senate leaders were trying to rush through a bad bill.
"The American people have said loud and clear that this is an incredibly important issue to them. For the Senate to move ahead anyway using this process, railroading me and other critics of the bill and blocking our rights as senators to represent our constituents, is disgraceful," said Sen. David Vitter, R-La.
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The bill is S 1639
You will see a remarkable thing on the cloture vote. For every Senator who was turned off by the "clay pigeon" tactic and place a no vote, others will have their own roads to Damascus and will vote yes.
You would prefer to be Pissed on? Didn't believe this place would attract that type!
Guess we will see tomorrow.
FREE USE!
The “path to citizenship” is NOT the objection to the current immigration bill!
It is the immediate “legalization” without having first secured the border, provided for meaningful background checks, and subsequent issuance of tamperproof IDs.
It is that “probationary status” is renewable every four years.
It is lack of a system to manage the VISIT system, which would keep track of people who overstay their VISAs.
It is the tripling of chain migration, before closing the door in 2016.
There is no true incentive for illegal immigrants to get on the path to citizenship!
And finally, I object to the proponents of this bill pretending that I’m a racist, instead of addressing my true objections above.
There was one other theory I read on another immigration thread - it’s scary enough to make sense...
Amnesty is just a way of getting 15-20 million voters lined up for Prescott Bush’s WH run.
Now you are getting close to the truth.
Note that Democrats feel fully justified in stopping Republican filibusters whenever they want. Recall that Republicans threw their hands up in despair when presented with Democratic filibuster during the Great Judge Fiascos.
Now tell me how understands political power - Democrats or Republicans?
Exactly, this last week has been very bad public theater for the royal subjects... I suspect the Bill will pass the Senate and some of the Senators will act shocked that their proposed amendments have been struck from the bill... This is a Bush/Kennedy Bill just like that No Child Left Behind crap that they F##@%^% the taxpayer with.
Yeah right...they can't even return for court dates after they've been released back into the general population, to where they shouldn't have been in the first place.
Does anyone want and need their (in general) enormous families milking the system while they are gone? As if it's not bad enough already??
boot ‘em out for good.....let the ones who’ve legally stood in line be processed....and rewarded for waiting....legally.
Can you imagine? I would ESPECIALLY like to see all the arrogant ones who marched with their Zapatista masks and Mexican flags, and trampled on the US flag - doing the walk of shame OUT OF OUR COUNTRY.
Well, I can dream...
praying!
Hey, nic.
_______________________________________________
Senator Feingold:
About Immigration Reform – NOT THIS BILL
If your sentiments are for our citizens, law abiding immigrants, and our constitutionally sovereign nation, this is not the bill you should be looking for.
Supporting this bill, you are attempting to hold a weak promise of national security hostage in order to thwart our rights of citizenship and of legal immigration, by endorsing amnesty for illegal hirers and their serfdom invasion. Your points are undercut by reality.
1. Guard the border and enforce the law, first. Then we might entrust some kind of measured, gradual, and reasonable immigration reform to you and your cohorts. You are not trustworthy. You need to regain our trust.
2. You seem to think that unionists and other wage earners will continue to back you, as you curry the favor of multi-national corporations, to force down Americans’ wages. You are sadly mistaken.
3. You seem to think you can thwart the People, by ignoring our popular and national sovereignty and pushing us further toward globalism. And if you vote for this bill, you are being treasonous, increment by increment.
Cease and desist, now.
Your political career depends on it, though you seem to care less for your country.
Arlen Williams
awesome letter; thanks for your ping/post.
Hey unspun. Hope you’re doing well! Good to *see* you.
I've called, written, cajoled, and threatened everybody I could think of. Tell you what, even if this bill fails, I'll remember the way these elite scum have behaved during this time: utterly shameless and disgraceful, and very scary. The problem is, despite this amnesty scam, look at the trend. The ruling elite are increasingly ignoring WE THE PEOPLE, in favor of payoffs and bribes. Not good.
You don’t know how much I hope you are correct but there’s just something too perfect about this.
Let’s wait until tomorrow,then we can bitch at each other again;)
Thank you!!
My own correspondence to McCommie has gone from reserved to “traitor, traitor, traitor, yes, I’m a woman saying this, traitor, traitor, traitor, where is my $50 for picking lettuce, traitor.” He never returns any mail or calls either way.
btw, when did you send that? It’s not about “this” bill? Which one then referred to in letter....”Supporting this bill”.
Use this as a template, no?
If yes....thanks (duh....I’ve been sitting in heat/humidity all day...then in class for 4 hours...brain is getting fried...okay, is fried. : )
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