Vol. 71/No. 25      June 25, 2007

Attempting to score a factional point, Reid tried to blame U.S. president George Bush, saying Bush did not do enough to pressure Republican senators to limit the debate and speed the measure toward a vote. "Where are the president's men? Where are the president's people helping up with these votes?" Reid said. "The headlines are going to be, 'The President Fails Again.'"

Sixty votes were needed to end the debate on a long list of amendments introduced by both Democratic and Republican lawmakers. The vote was 45-50 against ending debate on the bill. Thirty-seven Democrats, seven Republicans, and independent Senator Joseph Lieberman voted to end the debate. Thirty-eight Republicans, 11 Democrats, and independent Senator Bernard Sanders voted against it.

Since its announcement on May 17, opposition to the bill has grown among employers associations and politicians on both sides of the issues. This has been expressed in a string of amendments introduced from the Senate's floor seeking to reshape the measure. The amendments included one, which was defeated, that proposed to annul key provisions of the bill that would allow some of the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States to eventually obtain permanent residence.

Sharp opposition has also come from many bosses concerned that a "merit-based" point system to obtain residency, heavily weighted on skills and formal education levels, would hamper the flow of immigrant labor they depend on to make profits. Many of these employers also said the number of visas per year proposed in the guest worker plan was inadequate.

Early in the morning, before the bill was shelved, the Senate passed, by a 49-48 vote, a motion to place a five-year limit on a guest worker program that would allow 200,000 immigrant workers to come into the country with temporary visas every year. Leading up to that vote, both lawmakers advocating tighter limits on immigration and trade union officials opposed to the guest worker plan expressed similar arguments, saying that "a flood" of immigrant workers who are paid lower wages would erode pay and working conditions and take away jobs from "American" workers. An earlier vote had already cut the number of immigrant workers allowed every year into the United States by half, and had eliminated a provision to raise the annual number of temporary workers to 600,000 if necessary to meet labor demand.

As drafted, the bipartisan proposal would allow some undocumented immigrants to apply for a renewable Z visa after paying fines and fees of at least $4,500. After eight years, those with Z visas could apply for residency after paying an additional $4,000, show that they speak English, remain employed, and pass a background check. Applicants would then be required to leave the United States and apply from their country of origin before their applications would be considered based on the "merit" system. The legislation would also tighten border controls, adding 6,000 additional border police and building hundreds of miles of fences and surveillance system along the border.

Bush, who has backed the bill, called on Reid to reinitiate the debate, as he pledged to work to soften the differences among Republican senators on the bill.

"The matter is in life support, but it is not dead," said Senator Arlen Specter, Republican from Pennsylvania and a key sponsor of the bill.
 
 
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