News Update - June 27, 2007
By Alan Lee, Esq.†‡
Senate Moves Forward On Comprehensive Immigration Reform (S.1639)
Amid Concerns Of Move To The Right
The Senate voted 64-35 yesterday to begin considering amendments
to the comprehensive immigration reform bill (S. 1639). The leadership
hopes to finish debate on 10 amendments by Thursday morning before
another vote to limit debate on the remaining amendments (17) to
30 hours. Of prime concern is a major Republican move to push the
bill as far to the right as possible, including amendments that
would require a touchback to the home country by illegals far in
advance of the time proposed in the current legislation; no probationary
legal status for illegals until triggers on border security are
met; elimination of the ability of Z visa holders to apply for permanent
residence status; and criminal punishment for those who overstay
their visas in the future. (Overstay violations under current law
are treated as civil and not criminal acts.) In a further signal
of the hostility of the Republicans to the legislation, House Republicans
voted yesterday 114-23 to adopt a resolution disapproving the Senate
bill. Stay tuned for further developments.
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