Immigration bill dealt blow in Senate

Reuters ^ | June 7, 2007 | Donna Smith

[Baladas]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A sharply divided Senate on Thursday threw into doubt the fate of the plan backed by President George W. Bush to revamp U.S. immigration laws.

The Senate fell 27 votes short of the 60 needed to advance the bill toward a final vote, dealing a serious blow to the comprehensive effort to overhaul immigration law before Bush leaves office in January 2009.

The bill, which has drawn fire from both the right and the left, ties tough border security and workplace enforcement measures to a plan to legalize most of the 12 million illegal immigrants

[Baladas]

Elsewhere, Reid has been distancing himself from this bill totally, and Lindsey Graham is whining again that amnesty opponenets are going to have a hard time on the campaign trail. Personally, I can't wait to see him there.

[Tai_Chung]

The Senate fell 27 votes short of the 60 needed to advance the bill

So that is 33 votes? Just 1/3 of the Senate!

[monkapotamus]

[Enterprise]

[TomGuy]

Lindsey Graham is whining again that amnesty opponenets are going to have a hard time on the campaign trail

Lindsey was anticipating that he would be the VP on McCain's ticket by the next election, so he wouldn't have to worry about facing the voters in SC.

But, McCain continues to tank, and Lindsey sees his future at VP regressing and his future as a returning Senator diminishing.

[snarkpup]

Here is a copy of what I just sent to Colorado Senator Salazar:

Please withdraw your support for this immigration bill and force the executive branch to start enforcing current immigration regulations.

One of the main reasons I fled California last year and moved to Colorado is because my neighorhood was becoming the subject of a turf war between the Nortenos and the Sorenos. Ordinary people are being attacked for wearing clothing of the "wrong" color. And this is in upper/middle-class suburbia.

One reason I moved to Western Colorado is because the people here are less tolerant of this invasion/crime wave. If Colorado and the rest of the country go the way of California, there'll be nowhere left to go.

And here is the immediate response I received:

Sorry, the http://Salazar.senate.gov web page you have requested is experiencing technical difficulties. The Webmaster has been alerted.

You will be automatically redirected to the http://Salazar.senate.gov Home page after 10 seconds.

If this problem persists, please contact the Office of the Secretary Webmaster at webmaster@sec.senate.gov.

I also sent a somewhat similar message to Sen. Allard a few minutes earlier and it went through OK.

[alloysteel]

Has the death blow been struck yet?

Dayum, those Senators are running scared NOW! Just a little more pressure, folks, the “alliance” is starting to crack....

[Cacique]

It ain't dead yet. Don't let it be a phoenix and rise again.

CALL! CALL! CALL! CALL! AND KEEP CALLING TILL THE LINES FRY!

WRITE! WRITE! WRITE! WRITE! TILL YOU RUN OUT OF INK IN YOUR PEN!

Bombard the Democrats as well, especially the ones that ran on an anti illegal immigration plank and the ones in marginal districts who could be vulnerable. keep pounding on them. This is a bipartisan issue not a Conservative or Liberal issue BUT AN AMERICAN issue.

STOP AMNESTY NOW!! WE CAN DO IT!!

The best way to stop Shamnesty

[spectre]

Thanks for all your hard work, Cacique..

sw

[Maynerd]

Good news but it’s not dead yet.

[Greg F]

I’m watching CNN and they are still debating amendments at 6:30 PM EST. Keep calling . . .

[TomGuy]

Good news but it’s not dead yet.

Reid is going to try one more cloture vote this evening. It was originally going to be around 5:00 EDT, but apparently will be later this evening.

[Cockroaches like the cover of darkness. The Senate floor may need Orkin this evening.]

[BornInASmallTown]

Well, it looks like Mexico’s desire for “reconquista”...to “reclaim” California as “Mexican territory”...will have to wait a bit. Boo hoo hoo.

And yes, I agree with the other posters here. The fat lady hasn’t sung yet, so keep the corks in the champagne and keep fighting this travesty. Jam the phone lines and fax lines and email in boxes of your elected officials NOW more than ever. Let them know that when it comes to the 33-63 vote, 63 upheld the wishes of the American people. The other 33 need to seek employment elsewhere.

YES, this country was built...in part...on the sweat and dedication of LEGAL immigrants, from all nations.

This is NOT about giving Mexico what it wants or opening the flood gates from Bangalore to Redmond WA so that Bill Gates can staff Microsoft with “gifted” cheap labor drones.

NO, there should NOT be a reward for illegally coming to this country, no matter HOW much it pleases the business owners that lust after cheap labor.

Vicente Fox’s fatwa...prior to leaving office...of “TEAR DOWN THIS WALL, Señor Bush”...won’t be happening today.

THIS IS STILL AMERICA.

[rbg81]

I’m sure if they can’t get their way on this one, they will try something else. Like passing stealth legislation that nearly outlaws all ID checks at polling places.

[Duke Nukum]

Lindsey Graham is sort of like the Hillary Rodham Clinton of the Republican Party. Except he hitched his wagon to the wrong man.