A proposal to reform the nation’s immigration system is on life support after it failed to pass an important test vote earlier today.
That came after the Senate, by one vote, opted shortly after midnight to add an amendment that would eliminate the nation’s guest-worker program after five years. You might recall that, days ago, the Senate approved an amendment by Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., to cut the guest worker program in half, from 400,000 to 200,000.
Bingaman’s successful proposal followed the Senate’s vote against a proposed amendment from Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D, to eliminate the guest-worker program altogether. The new amendment approved this morning came from Dorgan.
After that amendment was approved, the Senate conducted a test vote on the overall plan to gauge where things stand. It failed on a vote of 33-63.
Though the plan on Wednesday survived a number of challenges from proposed amendments supporters said would kill it, it apparently has a long way to go.
According to the Associated Press, Majority Leader Harry Reid of
And tempers are hot. Sens. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., got into a shouting match on the Senate floor earlier today that continued in a hallway outside. They were arguing over a proposed Obama amendment – that later failed – that would have ended the proposal’s focus on granting visas based on work skills instead of familial ties after five years instead of 14, the news service reported in a second article.
The immigration overhaul proposal was crafted by a bipartisan group of senators including Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M.