US immigration drive crippled

FE Team | Published: June 09, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

WASHINGTON, Jun 8 (AFP): A sweeping immigration reform drive collapsed in the US Senate Thursday, leaving 12 million illegal immigrants in limbo and dealing a stinging blow to President George W Bush.
On a night of high political drama, Democratic leader Harry Reid withdrew the landmark measure, after senators voted twice within nine hours not to move it towards a final vote.
Only 45 members of the 100-seat Senate backed Reid's bid to limit further debate on the measure, 15 short of the total needed for it to proceed. Fifty senators voted against.
Democrats and Republicans traded blame for the impasse on the deal, brokered just last month by a fragile bipartisan coalition, which represented perhaps Bush's best chance for a major second term domestic achievement.
"A group of Senate Republicans has irresponsibly turned its back on border security and the 12 million people who are living in the shadows of our society," Reid said.
The immigration "grand bargain" was aimed at granting a path to legal status for undocumented immigrants, establishing a merit-based points system for future immigrants and a low-wage temporary worker programme.
It included a border security crackdown, punishments for employers who hire illegal immigrants and an attempt to wipe out a backlog of visa applications from those who have gone through legal immigration channels.
The bill ran into fierce assaults from the right, however, from conservative groups who branded it an "amnesty" for those who had broken the law to enter and stay in the United States.
Some liberal lobbies also opposed the bill, saying its guest worker programme threatened American laborers. Hi-tech firms had warned new immigration rules would not let them pick the high-skilled workers they wanted.
Reid forced Thursday's vote, saying the Senate needed to pass the bill and move on to debating energy reform and the war in Iraq, after two weeks of exhaustive work on immigration, a hotly divisive issue.
The vote went ahead after a day of brinkmanship and a last-ditch rescue bid by Bush cabinet members and top senators.
Republicans complained Reid's maneuver, which would likely have led to a vote on final passage early next week, would not allow them enough time to offer amendments to the legislation.
Democrats, however, accused some Republicans of offering repeated "killer amendments" in an effort to erode the bill's crumbling support base.
Despite the setback, Reid pledged to carry on working for immigration reform, but added: "we are finished with this for the time being."
"We are very close, at some point we are going to do this."
Prospects for a future immigration deal making it through the Senate however appeared uncertain, given antipathy to the measure from conservatives, pressure of other business and partisan fighting between Republicans and Democrats.
The looming 2008 congressional and presidential elections mean that unless the measure is brought up soon, it will get caught up in a political maelstrom.
Eleven Democrats, mostly from conservative western or southern states, voted against moving forward with the legislation. Seven Republicans voted with the Democratic leadership.
As Senators traded blame for the failure of the vote, Reid warned Bush should pressure Republicans to reverse their stance, on an issue which is one of his last hopes for a major second term domestic achievement.
"Let's have President Bush work with us on this. I want to work with him. I don't say that very often," he said.
Republican leader Mitch McConnell complained: "I think we are giving up on this bill too soon."
Senator John Kyl, a conservative Republican who was one of the architects of the bill, said "failure is not an option. We have a great problem here that needs solving."
California Democrat Dianne Feinstein hit out at those who had branded the measure an "amnesty" for illegals.
"For me this has been a very sad day, I had hoped the outcome would have been very different," she said. "I am just so sorry this day ended the way it did."
Frank Sharry, director of the National Immigration Forum, a pro-immigrant advocacy group, said the vote was "a huge disappointment to immigrant communities, and those seeking a solution to the dysfunctional immigration system in America."