In Congress, a long road ahead for immigration bill

The Senate agreement reached Thursday still faces stiff opposition in the Senate and the House.

By Gail Russell Chaddock | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

from the May 21, 2007 edition

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Washington - After months of quiet negotiations, a historic immigration bill debuts in the Senate on Monday, where it faces a bruising floor fight – and even more uncertain prospects later this summer in the House.

At the heart of the deal is a tradeoff: legal status for some 12 million undocumented people and a new guest-worker program in exchange for sweeping new enforcement provisions – and the enforcement system must be in place first.

"The bill isn't exactly the way I would have written it, but it is a strong compromise and the best chance we will have to finally fix this broken system. The price of inaction is too high," said Sen. Edward Kennedy (D) of Massachusetts, in a statement on the eve of Monday's debate.

In a bid to keep their "grand bargain" intact, key negotiators, led by Senators Kennedy and Jon Kyl (R) of Arizona, say they will ban together to block amendments seen as hostile to the bill.

It's a tactic that key senators used to pass a sweeping energy bill 2005, after years of failed efforts at reform. Like energy policy, immigration is an issue that falls out across party lines – with local concerns, especially for representatives in the House, playing a decisive role.

On the House side, Democratic leaders say they will require that President Bush help win over at least 70 Republican votes – viewed by insiders as an impossibly high hurdle – before they will move legislation to the floor.

"While the bipartisan Senate agreement starts the process, I have serious concerns about some elements of this proposal – the bill must be improved in the Senate," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in a statement.

Within hours of the deal on Thursday, opposition broke out across party lines in both the House and Senate. The sharpest criticism came from lawmakers who see the proposed new law as a form of amnesty that rewards people who have broken the law, over those seeking to enter the US legally.

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