After test vote, immigration deal has pulse
Debate allowed to proceed, with backers hopeful
WASHINGTON -- The Senate breathed new life yesterday into a sweeping immigration package that would tighten the border while giving new legal status to 12 million undocumented immigrants, voting to move ahead with debate on a measure that has caused deep emotional and political rifts across the country.
The 64-to-35 vote does not guarantee final approval of the package, the product of an unusual team led by the White House and senators in both parties. But the high number of yes votes gave authors of the deal strong hopes of achieving a historic overhaul of immigration policy this year.
"We're back in the game," said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff as he left the Capitol yesterday. Both Chertoff and Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez have made frequent trips to the Capitol to lobby reluctant GOP senators, hoping to deliver President Bush a key domestic policy victory at a time when the president faces low public approval ratings.
Supporters of the package say they have a simple majority in the Senate to pass the bill, but they must fight off efforts to stop the measure from proceeding. The tally yesterday cleared the 60-vote threshold needed to keep the immigration effort alive.
A similar test vote earlier this month found just 45 supporters, only seven of them Republicans. This time, 24 Republicans joined 39 Democrats and Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, an independent, to back moving ahead with the bill. Opposing were 25 Republicans, nine Democrats, and Senator Bernard Sanders of Vermont, an independent.
The measure would give immediate legal status to an estimated 12 million immigrants now living in the United States illegally. The new "Z" visas would allow them to work legally, but not to stay in the United States indefinitely.
Those immigrants would have to pass background checks, pay thousands of dollars in fines, and travel back to their home countries at least once after applying for a green card granting them permanent legal status. But they would have to get in line behind other foreigners who did not break the law to enter the country.
Border security would be tightened, with another $4.4 billion set aside to keep more immigrants from entering the country illegally. A "guest worker" program would allow foreigners to work in the United States for two-year stints, provided they return home for a full year in between jobs. Employers would also face new penalties for hiring illegal immigrants.
Virtually no one -- including the authors of the bill -- is happy with all of the provisions in the bill. But supporters say the comprehensive package is the best chance Congress has of revamping immigration policy for the first time in more than two decades.
"This may not be perfect, but it's the best opportunity we have to do something significant and substantial," Senator Edward M. Kennedy , Democrat of Massachusetts and a key negotiator on the bill, told his colleagues before the vote.
Failing to pass the bill this week, Kennedy said in a brief interview after the vote, would be "a major tragedy for the country" because Congress has a limited opportunity to deal with immigration before the 2008 election campaigns.
Immigration is shaping up as a major issue in the presidential and congressional races. Senator John McCain of Arizona, one of the original authors of the immigration package, has been on the defensive as the only GOP presidential contender to support what many in his party have derided as an amnesty bill.
Democrats are hoping to woo Latino voters by endorsing a path to legal residency and citizenship for undocumented immigrants, many of whom are from Latin American countries. But they risk alienating labor unions, which expressed concerns that the guest worker program would create a permanent underclass of underpaid, temporary foreign workers.
Foes of the measure are mounting a fierce campaign to defeat it.
"You don't start out controlling illegal behavior by rewarding it," said Representative Brian Bilbray , a California Republican mobilizing House colleagues against the measure.
"The president's right sometimes. He's wrong sometimes. He's dead wrong on this," Bilbray said.
The fate of the measure in the Senate will depend on the outcome of some two dozen votes on amendments lawmakers started considering yesterday. Some of the proposals could bring wavering senators on board, but others could derail the entire package.
Several GOP senators have offered an amendment that would require applicants for the Z visa to return to their home countries before being allowed to work legally in the United States. The current version of the bill requires only seekers of a green card to make the trip, and some critics say that condition is too onerous for some immigrants, especially those from faraway countries.
Kennedy indicated yesterday that he would not fight that amendment. "I can live with it," he said.
Lawmakers also expect a floor fight on the question of whether to give more weight to family ties or employment in awarding visas. The current bill would limit family-based visas while giving more consideration to people with certain skills or degrees.
Many Democrats don't like that change, calling it antifamily, but accepted it to try to get a bipartisan deal.
"I'm optimistic" that the measure will survive the amendment process and win final approval at the end of the week, said Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California and a chief negotiator of the bill.
But "it can fall apart at any time. We all recognize that." Material from the Associated Press was used in this report. 