Posted on 06/27/2007 10:14:14 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - The Senate on Wednesday killed a Republican proposal to require all adult illegal immigrants to return home temporarily in order to qualify for permanent lawful status in this country.
The vote was 53-45 to table an amendment by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, that was one of several proposals designed to respond to conservatives who decry President Bush's immigration bill as a form of amnesty.
The bill could grant lawful status to as many as 12 million illegal immigrants as long as they passed background checks and paid fines and fees. Heads of household seeking permanent legal residency would have to return home to apply for green cards, however.
Without her amendment, Hutchison said shortly before the vote, "the amnesty tag that has been put on this bill will remain. It is the key issue in the bill for the American people."
Republicans and Democrats were both seeking to add restrictions to the legalization program, from barring unlawful immigrants from getting green cards, to permitting only those in the U.S. four years or more to be legalized.
The revived immigration measure, which also would toughen border security and institute a new system for weeding out illegal immigrants from workplaces, is facing steep challenges from the right and left.
Conservatives call the measure too lenient toward unlawful immigrants, while liberals say it could rip apart families and doom guest workers to exploitation at the hands of unscrupulous employers.
Votes on key amendments were continuing Wednesday afternoon under a complex and carefully orchestrated procedure designed to overcome stalling tactics by conservative foes. It will allow votes only on a limited list of 26 amendments before a critical test-vote on the bill Thursday.
"It's going to be a rough ride," said Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., an architect of the bill. "We're in trench warfare."
Democrats, too, were seeking to limit the legalization program for unlawful immigrants. Also getting a vote was an amendment by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., that would allow only those who had been in the country for at least four years to gain lawful status.
Webb said his proposal would raise the public's comfort-level with granting lawful status to illegal immigrants.
"People in this country who traditionally would be supporting fair immigration policies, but who are worried about the legalization process in this bill, would come forward and support this," Webb said.
His amendment would scrap the return-home requirement, which he called unrealistic and impractical.
Republican framers of the bill, seeking to sap support from Hutchison's amendment, were proposing their own, less burdensome return-home requirement for illegal immigrants. It would apply only to heads of household and would give them three years to meet the requirement.
Also expected to be voted on is an amendment by Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., that would bar illegal immigrants from eventually getting green cards.
Democratic amendments to give family members of citizens and legal permanent residents more chances to immigrate are also slated for votes.
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The bill is S 1639
Why did you tell him you are not informed? It is always better to just say, "I am calling to ask Senator Dingbat to vote against cloture on Thursday for the good of our country." You also might ask, nicely, if he is keeping a record of phone calls on this bill, and how the calls are running. They know you are upset or you wouldn't have called, so they really don't need to hear that, and it comes across as if you are upset with THEM. They are interns who don't know squat and who are under a lot of pressure. No reason to add to their grief.
Considering that they are on the same side on this, it is now obvious that Bush's support of SPECTRE made a lot of sense. He needed an experienced RINO to push this RINO/Kennedy bill.
Sending illegals home is contrary to the goals of our politicians. The thinking in DC is that we need to keep the illegals we have, and create incentives for more of the same to come. It’s not like politicians work. Their money is tied up in investments that benefit from the steady stream of cheap labor, and their families are isolated from the cultural effects of flooding the US with uneducated, unskilled and uncultured people from lawless countries.
Laura Ingraham was really after Senator Coleman yesterday, before the vote - asking her staff and listeners to call him. His phones were not being picked up - but she finally got through to somebody after thirty-five minutes.
I think she would be interested in hearing about your experience.
Whatta pair! The big RAT himself, Upchuck, and his lackey RINO poolboy, Grahamnesty.
Junky industrial waste puke-O-rama!
I think Lindsay is too tied to McCain.
The sham continues. Any Senator that votes for this dog AFTER their amendment is unceremoniously slapped down should answer to his / her constituents right up until election day.
He's tied all right. But we can't say how here on FR. (And that's a good thing :)
KAY IS MY SENATOR! KAY AND CORNYN! YES!
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