News Update - June 9, 2007
By Alan Lee, Esq.†‡
S. 1348, The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Legislation, In
Trouble
In the face of strong Republican conservative desire to continue
adding countless amendments and extend debate on S. 1348, Senate
majority leader Harry Reid (D-NV) moved to cut off debate on June
7th, but was unsuccessful in obtaining the required 60 votes. The
vote for cloture was 45-50. The bill was then pulled from the Senate
floor. Prospects for the bill's future appear to rest with President
Bush and his power to gather support from his party to save the
bill. Recent amendments have made the bill less attractive to pro-immigration
forces as the Senate has voted to end the "Y" guest worker
program after five years, to deny the earned income-tax credit to
"Y" and "Z" visa holders until they adjust to
permanent residence (currently projected to be 8-13 years), to prohibit
Social Security benefits based on earnings from unauthorized work,
to provide for minimum sentences from 2-10 years for aliens who
reenter the U.S. after removal, and to give law enforcement and
intelligence agencies access to certain information in "Z"
visa applications for investigations of criminal or civil violations.
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