Democrats Say Immigration Reform at Make-or-Break Point
April 5, 2006 — -- Call it a "deadlock" or simply "ongoing negotiation behind the scenes." Perhaps a super-serious Senatorial gut check. Where we'll be this weekend on the immigration debate is literally anybody's guess. We will know more Thursday at 10:30 a.m. when we see if Senate Democrats have the 60 votes they need to invoke cloture on immigration reform and thereby end debate on the issue and force it to a vote.
But as of now, the two weeks that Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., set aside for the Senate to debate and vote on an immigration bill - whether it be comprehensive or piecemeal -- are almost up. And senators have so far not voted on any substantial amendments to the comprehensive immigration reform proposal that made it out of the judiciary committee and is now on the Senate floor.
Democrats are seeking a cloture vote in order to keep their rivals across the aisle from amending the bill to make it tougher on illegal immigrants. If they fail, debate continues and what will happen to the bill is anyone's guess. New restrictions could be added or it may simply be put on hold indefinitely.
The prickly issues holding up a comprehensive immigration reform bill remain two-fold.
1. How extensive should a guest worker program be? The bill on the floor provides for 400,000 guest workers. Many Republicans (and some Democrats, particularly organized labor) say that's too many.
2. How to deal with the 11 million undocumented workers already in the United States. The bill on the floor gives them a path to citizenship with or without returning to their home country first. There are many proposals for restricting this floating around -- like forcing people who have been here for five years or less to return home or to a "U.S. port of entry."
Democrats are not allowing votes on pending amendments they say will harm the underlying Judiciary Committee bill. They also continue to say the approach on the floor is already a compromise, and no further compromise is necessary. Republicans are insisting on offering amendments that would make the bill less forgiving to undocumented immigrants --
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