Azul-Cristian Caravaggio made it to Washington from her home in Chattanooga, Tenn., about sundown on Friday – too late to see any senators. But by Monday, when the Senate returns, she says that she and other protesters will be on a hunger strike and chained to a half-ton, 28-foot wall they set up in a Senate park.

This will be the last week of votes on Capitol Hill before November elections, and one will be whether to build a 700-mile fence along the 1,920-mile US border with Mexico. She wants senators to vote no.

"Whatever is done, people will find a way to knock it down, go under or around it. There will be thousands more deaths on the border," she says.

It's a prelude to the final moves on immigration in the 109th Congress. Since last spring, the House and Senate have gridlocked over competing versions of immigration reform: The Senate and the Bush White House, backed by many business groups and service-industry unions, favor an approach that includes more guest workers and a path to citizenship for at least 11 million now in the country illegally. The House, claiming the support of an angry public, aims to secure borders first.

For now, the House approach is winning. But both sides hope to move elements of their agenda in some form this week – either as stand-alone bills, or attached to other legislation.

Facing a standoff with the Senate – and a restive base – House Republicans repackaged popular border-security provisions into a new bill, the Secure Fence Act of 2006, which the Senate takes up again Monday.

The bill authorizes construction of almost 700 miles of double-layered fencing along the Southern border. It also directs the Department of Homeland Security to achieve operational control over all international land and maritime borders within 18 months of enactment, including surveillance using unmanned aerial vehicles. The bill passed the House on Sept. 14 with the support of 64 Democrats, and all but six Republicans.

The White House says that border security is a crucial part of the president's plan, but that "in no way does the passage of [a] border-security-only bill take the place of what he has called for, which is a comprehensive immigration reform bill." The president has not threatened to veto the bill.

In separate votes last week, the House also opted to encourage state and local police to enforce federal immigration laws, including checking papers at the workplace. In a near party-line vote, the House also required all voters in federal elections to have photo identification, beginning in 2008.

"The border-security crisis in America is one that we will continue to address. It's a matter of homeland, national, and economic security for all Americans," said Speaker Dennis Hastert on Thursday.

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