Senate Resumes Immigration Debates

Monday, June 4, 2007
Contributed by: Charles A. Mallard

Returning from their Memorial Week (wouldn't that be nice) vacation, Senators will resume the debate over the Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill touted as the Great Bargain. At the heart of the debates are the competing interests of family-based vs. employment-based immigration and the need to address the continuing status of an estimated 12 million unlawful immigrants. President Bush is pushing hard for the bill and has previously commented that he is ready to sign the original bipartisan proposal rolled out before the Senate break.

Despite being announced as a bipartisan proposal, bipartisan acceptance has been far from free flowing. In fact, most of the debate so far has been clearly partisan and steeped in intra-party fighting. In summary, Democrats/Liberals are pushing for more family-based considerations in a bill which currently focuses more on education, skills, and job experience than familial relationships. Republicans/Conservatives, however, have warned that proposing family-based changes to the bill could "make the bipartisan coalition crumble." Alternatively, Republicans/Conservatives seek to strengthen border security and immigration enforcement efforts, in exchange for Democratic/Liberal goals focused on the legalization of millions of illegal immigrants.

For full coverage of the continuing debates and developments, you can log on to Yahoo News.

This column is published for informational purposes only. It should not be construed as legal advice and is not intended to create an attorney client relationship. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the author's law firm or its individual partners.