Immigration bill faces make-or-break vote
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The Senate is expected to vote this morning on a delicately crafted immigration reform bill that survived a day of legislative wrangling on Wednesday that one lawmaker likened to "trench warfare."
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Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist on Sunday said he wants a Senate vote soon on an immigration bill focusing primarily on border security, but acknowledged that quick passage is doubtful.
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As Congress reconvenes this week, businesses and their lobbyists are gearing up to fight a series of proposed changes to immigration law that they say will complicate hiring.
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Proponents of a broad immigration measure narrowly beat back potentially fatal challenges Thursday, including an effort to phase out the temporary worker program
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As Congress resumes work on the immigration bill, a point system will be at the heart of the debate.
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Two congressional committees are scheduled this week to consider a bill giving the District its first full vote in the House, and senior Democrats hope to pass it in the House and send it to the Senate this month.
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In an election-year battle over  immigration, congressional Republicans said on Tuesday they  plan to take the issue directly to voters with hearings across  the country on whether millions of illegal immigrants should  have a path to citizenship.
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The stalemate between the House and Senate on immigration reform is riling US voters.
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The Senate voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to limit debate on election-year immigration legislation, clearing the way for final passage later this week of a bill that calls for tougher border security as well as an eventual chance at citizenship for millions of men and women in the country illegally.
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The US Senate on Monday set its sights on passing a bill granting legal status to 12 million illegal immigrants, despite claims by opponents that the move is tantamount to a mass amnesty.
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A White House-backed bill to revamp immigration laws stalled in the Senate on Thursday, handing President George W. Bush a major legislative setback
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The 50-45 roll call Thursday by which the Senate voted against cutting off debate on an immigration compromise bill and advancing the bill. Sixty votes were needed for approval of the motion.
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The US Senate voted on Tuesday to resurrect a bitterly divisive immigration bill, but the last-ditch effort to offer legal status to 12 million illegal immigrants still faced huge obstacles.
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Backers of a broad immigration overhaul on Friday began efforts to revive the stalled bipartisan package in the U.S. Senate amid partisan bickering over who is to blame for the bill's failure.
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The House and Senate should vote on a compromise immigration bill before the November elections so voters can assess how their lawmakers did on the issue, House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner said Friday.
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A White House-backed bill to revamp immigration laws stalled in the Senate on Thursday, handing President George W. Bush a major legislative setback.
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(InfoWorld) - Three major technology trade groups urged the U.S. Senate on Friday to resurrect a wide-ranging immigration reform bill that would expand a controversial skilled-worker visa program. The Senate late Thursday failed to gain enough votes to close debate on the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act and bring the bill to a floor vote. The bill, which critics said provided amnesty to illegal aliens living in the U.S., also would have expanded exemptions to the cap on high-skilled H-1B visa programs, a move supported by many tech vendors. [ Analysis:Â Immigration reform's high-tech impactÂ ] The bill would increase the annual H-1B cap from 65,000 to 115,000 and exempt foreign students who have earned a master's degree or higher from a U.S. university from the annual cap. Right now, 20,000 students are exempted from the cap. U.S. tech vendors don't want to lose those workers, especially because many of them have their education supported by U.S. tax dollars at public universities, said David LeDuc, director of public policy for the SIIA (Software & Information Industry Association). "We don't want to export our seed corn," he said. "We don't want [those students] leaving and working for our competitors." The bill also sets preferences based on merit, instead of family connections, for clearing multiyear backlogs for employment green cards, another provision supported by many tech groups. Tech vendors want to keep high-skilled workers in the U.S. under the long-term green card program but often face delays, LeDuc said. The SIIA, the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) and the ITIÂ (Information Technology Industry Council) all urged the Senate to try again to pass the legislation. Negotiations on the bill will continue, and ITI is optimistic the bill will still move forward, said James Ratchford, communications director there. The fate of the bill should become clearer by early next week, he said. LeDuc agreed, saying SIIA is confident the bill can still pass. Many large tech vendors have in recent years urged Congress to expand the H-1B program. In March, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates called for more H-1B visas during a visit to Washington, D.C. Gates said then he had "deep anxiety" about the ability of the U.S. to compete globally. SIIA's position is similar to Microsoft's. "Companies need to be able to hire the best and brightest workers regardless of where they're born," LeDuc said. The H-1B program isn't generating controversy during the congressional debate on the bill. Instead, provisions to allow illegal aliens to become permanent citizens have raised major concerns among many Republicans. But U.S.-based tech worker groups such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers-USA have opposed a higher H-1B cap, arguing that companies use the program to hire foreign workers for less money than unemployed U.S. workers would receive.