Senate works overtime on immigration

WASHINGTON -- In a last-ditch attempt to avoid a bipartisan stalemate on overhauling US immigration laws, senators plan to negotiate through the weekend to try to forge a long-elusive compromise.

The negotiators are working against a Wednesday deadline set by the Senate majority leader, Nevada Democrat Harry Reid, for a vote that will determine whether the Senate will begin debate on immigration or not. With House leaders insisting that senators must take the lead on the controversial issue, the Senate's failure to move forward next week could derail hopes of action on immigration at all this year.

The weekend talks come after two months of intense negotiations involving a bipartisan group of senators and two Cabinet secretaries that still have not yielded a compromise.

To push both sides toward agreement, Reid has taken steps to make an immigration bill written by last year's GOP-controlled immigration committee the basis for this year's debate. But Republicans now argue that bill is not strict enough and have threatened to block debate.

The Republicans argue that a bipartisan agreement is within reach and pushed Reid, who had originally set the vote over whether to start debate for Tuesday, to give them more time. A change in immigration law remains a high priority for President Bush, who has made it one of just a few major domestic issues that he has pledged to finish before the end of his term.

On Friday, Reid stressed the need to act on immigration now. Congress has other legislative priorities, including crucial spending bills, that must be passed by October. "I want this Congress to accomplish immigration reform, and we are running out of time to do it," Reid said. "The House of Representatives is waiting for us."

He said that he hoped Republicans would not prevent the debate over the issue from starting on Wednesday. "I hope they will reconsider this threat," he said. "Members who have put so much time and effort working on an immigration bill should embrace our motion to start debate."

Reid granted the negotiators an extra day after a request from Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, the lead Democrat on the issue. Republicans said they appreciated the gesture. "An extra day should be helpful," said Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, the lead Republican negotiator.

Senator Mel Martinez, Republican of Florida, said Thursday that a potential agreement "is within our grasp."

There is a strong consensus on continuing to improve border security. Both sides agree on creating a foolproof system to verify that employees are legal. They back tough punishment for companies that hire outside the legal system. And both sides have accepted that certain goals to tighten the nation's borders and immigration practices, which they call triggers, must be met before further reform can proceed.

Both sides also have agreed that the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States should be given a way to earn citizenship. Although the criteria have yet to be fully ironed out, illegal immigrants who qualified for citizenship would probably have to learn English, pay fines, show they have established roots in the United States, and have held jobs for a while.

They probably would be required to leave the country briefly and reenter legally and could be required to pay back taxes. They would not be processed before entering the United States legally.

But beyond that, Democrats say the two sides are not close to a compromise. "The suggestion that we have broad agreement is to my mind not accurate," said Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey, who said the trouble stemmed from a Republican shift. "In essence, their plan moved to the far right . . . It's going to make negotiation much more difficult."

There is also disagreement over a temporary worker program. Democrats would like participants to be able to gain permanent resident status, a step toward citizenship, but Republicans would prefer a temporary program.