US Congress set for make-or-break immigration debate

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WASHINGTON, June 26 (AFP): The US Congress Tuesday takes up a divisive bill balancing border security and the documentation of 12 million illegal aliens, in a make-or-break debate that could scuttle immigration reform until after the 2008 presidential election.
The bill, resurrected after losing a procedural vote two weeks ago, pits lawmakers from both the Republican and Democratic parties eager to resolve the growing presence of undocumented workers, against those clamoring to stem what one critic called a foreign "invasion" of the United States.
The SenateTuesday is expected to vote on whether to allow debate to proceed on revised legislation that emphasis es tighter borders and law enforcement.
President George W. Bush has put immigration reform at the top of his domestic agenda and has been busy trying to muster the 60 votes needed to prevent blocking tactics by its opponents and move the bill to full debate.
Bush's Republican administration aims to pass a bill that "puts border security first," Joel Kaplan, the White House deputy chief of staff for policy, told reporters Monday.
"It gives employers the tools they need to verify the status of the workers that they hire; it provides a legal and orderly way to match willing foreign workers to jobs Americans aren't filling and which our economy demands."