Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., won approval for a five-year program to permit as many as 1.5 million agriculture workers into the country. "It will provide the agriculture industry with a legal work force and offer agriculture workers a path to citizenship," she said. The vote was 11-5, with Republicans casting all the votes in opposition.
In addition, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., prevailed on a proposal to allow an additional 400,000 green cards for future immigrants, regardless of the industry where they find jobs.
But lawmakers disagreed sharply over the terms of temporary worker programs affecting future immigrants. They clashed, as well, over whether to require illegal workers who are currently in the United States to return to their home countries before being allowed to apply for American citizenship.