Senate May Vote on Immigration Bill This Week

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From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Melissa Block.

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For weeks the U.S. Senate has been tied in knots, trying to revamp the nation's immigration policy. Now that legislation appears headed for passage. That's mainly because the coalition of Democratic and moderate Republican senators backing the bill has fought off some potentially lethal amendments.

As NPR's David Welna reports, in the current immigration fight policy has often had to yield to politics.

DAVID WELNA reporting:

The immigration bill the Senate is likely to approve Thursday is a comprise crafted to pull in enough Republican support to ensure a solid majority. The key to that Hagel-Martinez Comprise, named after the Nebraska and Florida Republicans who brokered it, is a provision dealing with the nation's illegal immigrants. It splits them into three groups, those here more than five years who can stay and pursue citizenship, those here two to five years who have to leave to return as temporary guest workers and those who came in the last two years who'd be deported immediately. California Democrat Dianne Feinstein supports that immigration bill but today she tried eliminating its three categories of illegal immigrants.

Senator DIANNE FEINSTEIN (Democrat, California): I believe it to be unworkable. I believe it will create another class of illegal immigrants in this country and I believe it is impossible to carry out the deportation requirements of the Hagel-Martinez Bill.

WELNA: Feinstein instead proposed offering all illegal immigrants who entered the country before this year a tamper proof orange card that would get them on a path to citizenship. That did not go over well with Florida Republican Mel Martinez, who insisted his more complicated scheme for dealing with illegal immigrants should not be tinkered with.

Senator MEL MARTINEZ (Republican, Florida): I do understand the difficulties. I don't want to be Polly Ann-ish about it. This is a very difficult concept in order to implement when the time comes but we must try.

WELNA: Another of the bill's supporters, Kansas Republican Sam Brownback, warned that the coalition backing it might simply unravel if Feinstein's amendment were approved.

Senator SAM BROWNBACK (Republican, Kansas): I don't think that is a useful thing for us to do having invested the quantity of time that we have in this bill, having the importance of this bill and the number one topic across the country for us now to adopt an amendment that I believe has the clear possibly of failing the whole bill and pulling the whole bill under.

WELNA: And by a vote of 61 to 37, Feinstein's orange card proposal was defeated. Pennsylvania Republican Arlen Specter admitted feeling torn voting against it but he did so to preserve what he called "a very delicate, fragile coalition".

Senator ARLEN SPECTER (Republican, Pennsylvania): I'm confident, or lets say optimistic or perhaps even say hopeful, that we will pass this bill in the Senate and then we will look forward to the conference with the House of Representatives which has evidenced a very, very different view.

WELNA: Even Senators opposing the bill say they won't fight limiting further debate in what's call a cloture vote tomorrow morning. Texas Republican John Cornyn says that's because he's taking the longer view.

Senator JOHN CORNYN (Republican, Texas): The way it looks now I will probably vote against the bill unless we can change it significantly. But I'm voting for cloture. I do believe that it's important to get the bill to Congress because that's where the bill is going to be ultimately written.

WELNA: And that could lead to quite a show down with the House since its bill has no provisions whatsoever either for guest workers or illegal immigrants other than declaring them felons. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said today he still hopes Senate and House negotiators could forge a good bill.

Senator HARRY REID (Democrat, Nevada): If the president can finally denounce the monstrous bill in the House, which he has been unwilling to do to this point.

WELNA: And South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham warned it's not just the fate of immigrants that's at stake.

Senator LINDSEY GRAHAM (Republican, South Carolina): Much is at stake for our party. We have the White House, we have the Senate and we have the House. If we can't solve this problem because it's politically too hard for us, people are going to turn to another group to solve this problem.

WELNA: Graham said it would be a mistake not to pass an immigration bill before the November elections.

David Welna, NPR News, the capital.

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