Senate to try again on immigration overhaul
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The Senate is headed for a showdown over immigration reform on Tuesday when lawmakers vote on whether to revive a bill that would legalize millions of unlawful immigrants.
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A sharply divided U.S. Senate on Thursday threw into doubt the fate of the plan backed by President George W. Bush to revamp U.S. immigration laws and left lawmakers scrambling to salvage the fragile deal.
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Sixteen of the two dozen amendments the Senate will consider attaching to a revived immigration bill come from senators who helped derail the legislation earlier this month.
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The Senate debate over legalizing millions of immigrants is on hold as lawmakers brace for political blowback from unhappy liberals and conservatives.
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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.
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In a rare visit to Capitol Hill, President Bush pressed Republican senators yesterday to resurrect the compromise overhaul of the nation's immigration laws, but many of the senators instead demanded that his administration first show a more determined commitment to border security.
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U.S. Senate leaders battled to hold together a fragile compromise on an overhaul of the immigration system on Thursday as President George W. Bush, in an impassioned plea for the bill, insisted 12 million people could not be sent home.
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As an  immigration overhaul bill is poised to return to the Senate this week, lawmakers from both parties showed little interest in compromise.
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The 66-29 roll call by which the Senate on Thursday rejected an effort to bar millions of unlawful immigrants from gaining legal status and eventually citizenship as part of a broad immigration bill.
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The US Senate votes to revive discussion of immigration legislation backed by President Bush.
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The U.S. Senate will try again to  confront President George W. Bush over his troop buildup in  Iraq, Democratic leaders announced on Thursday, more than a  week after senators shelved the issue in a procedural brawl.
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After a week at home with their constituents, the Senate architects of a delicate immigration compromise are increasingly convinced they will hold together this week to pass an  overhaul of the nation's immigration laws, with momentum building behind one unifying theme: Today's immigration system is...
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Frustrated with Congress's inability to pass an immigration overhaul bill, state legislatures are considering or enacting a record number of strongly worded proposals targeting illegal immigrants.
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The Senate voted today to effectively block efforts to overhaul the nationâs immigration laws, meaning that the issue is most likely dead until after the 2008 elections.
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A sharply divided Senate on Thursday threw into doubt the fate of the plan backed by President George W. Bush to revamp U.S. immigration laws.
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The Senate heads for a make-or-break vote on Thursday on President George W. Bush's plan to overhaul immigration laws after Senate leaders battled to fend off efforts by opponents to derail the bill.
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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.