Immigration plan shelved after compromise fails

Members of the U.S. Senate failed to overcome deep divisions over how to reform the nation’s immigration system, and the proposal was shelved Thursday night with no timeline to bring it back to the forefront.

After a first test vote on the bill failed 33-63 earlier Thursday, a second vote to end debate and schedule a final vote received only 45 favorable votes. It needed 60.

U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., part of a bipartisan group that proposed the plan, voted against ending debate and scheduling a final vote on the bill.

“Democrats are refusing to allow votes on amendments to the legislation on the Senate floor,” Domenici said. “More than 300 amendments have been filed to this bill. Only about 10 percent of those amendments have been dealt with. Clearly the Senate, which is known for its deliberative nature, has not had an adequate opportunity to improve upon this bill on the floor.”

Domenici reminded his peers that he was present in the late 1970s when the Senate debated a natural gas bill for weeks, and said there was no reason to avoid such a process on the important immigration bill. He also said a number of amendments he proposed, including the adding of a number of federal judgeships along the border, were not considered.

Domenici also said a number of aspects of the bill had been amended in ways that concerned him.

“Because of Democrats’ refusal to consider important amendments to this bill, we will not see any of the comprehensive border security improvements that New Mexico and other border states desperately need, and I could not be more disappointed,” Domenici said.

Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, however, blamed President Bush, whose staffers were also part of the bipartisan group that created the bill.

“This is the president’s bill,” the Associated Press quoted Reid as saying. “Where are the president’s people helping us with these votes?”

As the news service reported, the commerce and homeland security secretaries lobbied members of Congress right up to Thursday’s second vote.

Gov. Bill Richardson said he was disappointed that senators could not reach compromise. He opposed the original version of the bill primarily because it would have changed the visa system from one that places a lot of weight on familial ties to one that places most weight on workers’ skills.

A proposal by Sen. Barack Obama, a fellow Democratic presidential candidate, to change that was defeated in the Senate on Thursday.

“The collapse of this important legislation demonstrates a tragic breakdown of lawmakers’ ability to build compromise and the president’s ability to work with Congress to get things done. It is also clear evidence of the ongoing disconnect between Washington and the American public,” Richardson said. “Never in our history has the need for such legislation been greater. The issue is tearing the country apart, and the people want action.”

Richardson pointed out that the majority of Senate Democrats supported amendments, like Obama’s, that would make the bill a good one, and said it was unfortunate that “some members of Congress” were putting “politics ahead of progress.”

“We need an immigration plan that secures our borders, creates a tough but fair path to legalization for those already here, penalizes employers who knowingly hire illegal workers, makes families the priority and engages Mexico to help work with us to solve this problem,” Richardson said.