With a deadline looming next week, senators locked in intense, secret negotiations over how to overhaul America's broken immigration system say they are closing in on a "grand bargain."

Those involved in the negotiations say the proposal would include border security and tougher sanctions against employers who hire illegal workers, along with a path to legal status – but not necessarily citizenship – for the millions now in the US illegally.

But this is a window that may close. If the deal – and the all-important wording of the legislation– is not settled in time for a key Senate vote on Tuesday, then lawmakers on both sides of the aisle say immigration reform may be off the agenda until after the 2008 elections.

Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D) has set the deadline with the intent of squeezing out an agreement. Republicans, including key negotiators, say that the furious pace could force senators to vote for a plan before they understand its details.

"This is the best chance the country has to repair a broken immigration system," says Sen. Lindsey Graham (R) of South Carolina, who is urging Reid to give the bipartisan group time to complete its work. "If this moment passes, I don't know when we do it."

Meanwhile, conservative Republicans in both chambers are "drawing a line in the sand" over what they see as the most controversial element of the emerging deal: "amnesty," or special privileges, for those who entered the US illegally.

"We are here today to send a signal to the Senate leadership ... that if they do put forward their amnesty plan, then we will call it for what it is. And that is amnesty," said Rep. Lamar Smith (R) of Texas.

The negotiators keep working

In recent weeks, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez have been working with a dozen Republicans and, later, a half-dozen Democratic senators to hammer out a plan that could pass muster on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue.

Senators say it would include funding for border fencing for major metropolitan areas, 6,000 additional border patrol agents, stronger sanctions against employers who hire undocumented workers, and a more secure worker-identification system.

In addition, they are considering new ways to prioritize immigrants seeking legal status, including a point system that favors a person's education and job skills over family ties. Such a system could break a cycle of chain migration that favors low-skilled workers.

In the last Congress, the House and Senate each passed immigration-reform bills. The House version focused on border security and workplace enforcement. The Senate bill included a path to citizenship for most of the 12 million illegal immigrants living in the United States. Opposition to the Senate bill in the GOP-controlled House was so strong that the bill never even went to conference to resolve differences.

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