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US Senate postpones vote on immigration drive AFP The US Senate postponed a crunch vote on a reform drive to deal with 12 million illegal immigrants, a legacy-building issue for President George W. Bush, a top senator's spokesman said on Tuesday. The leader of the Senate's Democratic majority Harry Reid "postponed the vote until Monday to give more time for the negotiations and dedicate the next week to immigration reform," said Federico de Jesus, a spokesman for Reid. Republicans and Democrats have been locked in weeks of intense bargaining over comprehensive immigration reform, a key issue for the US Hispanic community, which is likely to wield significant clout in 2008 elections. A vote had been expected to take place Wednesday morning on a reform bill which could then be debated in the Senate, but no agreement had been reached on the reform program after talks ran on late Tuesday. Unless a deal can be struck, Reid has vowed to bring up an immigration bill held over from last year, backed by Democrats but opposed by most Republicans. If Reid cannot attract a number of Republicans, to hit a 60 vote supermajority needed to launch debate in the 100-member Senate, the issue could effectively die until after 2008 presidential and congressional polls. Reid earlier said negotiators from Bush's cabinet and Republican and Democratic senators had made some progress towards a deal, but things were "certainly a long ways from where we need to be." Key sticking points included differences on guest worker programs and reuniting illegal immigrants with families outside the United States, congressional sources said. Republican leader Mitch McConnell said he remained "optimistic" even at the 11th hour of a process launched amid fierce public debate and a crackdown on illegal workers by immigration authorities and border guards. The old version of the bill was passed by the Senate last year when Republicans were in control, but foundered for lack of support in the House of Representatives.
Such a strategy would allow more time for negotiations to go into overtime in the hope of pulling out a last minute deal on a new reform package, but time is short. "We cannot afford to wait any longer," Democratic Majority whip Dick Durbin said Tuesday, adding that a failure to clinch a deal on immigration would be "a lost opportunity." Debate on immigration centers on whether to begin legalizing the status of illegal immigrants already in the United States or to send them back home to then apply for US work permits. The Washington Post editorialized Tuesday that Congress was at a "make or break point" on meaningful immigration reform, pointing out that, because the issue is so politically sensitive, not moving ahead now will delay any action until after November 2008 presidential and congressional elections. "The longer Congress dithers, the more states and localities will attempt to deal with the matter on their own -- and the more anarchy will become the rule when it comes to immigration enforcement." Bush's immigration proposals were supported by many Democrats, but hit strong resistance from members of his own Republican Party. Along with a border crackdown, Bush himself has advocated regularizing a large part of the illegal immigrants living in the United States. Anti-immigration politicians accused him of supporting amnesty for all illegal immigrants. "This is hard work, and both sides, right now, are working very hard to try to produce a bill that will get to where we want, which is to have comprehensive immigration reform," Bush's spokesman Tony Snow said Monday. According to a poll by the Pew research Center, 59 percent of Americans support granting legal status to illegal immigrants who have been in the United States for several years. ---------------------------------------------------
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