Immigration overhaul: Senate passes historic bill
|
| Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., left, and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., right, two of the authors of the immigration reform bill crafted by the Senate's bipartisan "Gang of Eight," shakes hands on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, June 27, 2013, prior to the final vote. The historic legislation would dramatically remake the U.S. immigration system and require a tough new focus on border security. |
WASHINGTON
(AP) -- With a solemnity reserved for momentous occasions, the Senate
passed historic legislation Thursday offering the priceless hope of
citizenship to millions of immigrants living illegally in America's
shadows. The bill also promises a military-style effort to secure the
long-porous border with Mexico.
The bipartisan
vote was 68-32 on a measure that sits atop President Barack Obama's
second-term domestic agenda. But the bill's prospects are highly
uncertain in the Republican-controlled House, where party leaders are
jockeying for position in advance of expected action next month.
Spectators
in galleries that overlook the Senate floor watched expectantly as
senators voted one by one from their desks. Some onlookers erupted in
chants of "Yes, we can" after Vice President Joe Biden announced the
vote result.
After three weeks of debate,
there was no doubt about the outcome. Fourteen Republicans joined all 52
Democrats and two independents to support the bill.
In
a written statement, Obama coupled praise for the Senate's action with a
plea for resolve by supporters as the House works on the issue. "Now is
the time when opponents will try their hardest to pull this bipartisan
effort apart so they can stop commonsense reform from becoming a
reality. We cannot let that happen," said the president, who was
traveling in Africa.
In the final hours of
debate, members of the so-called Gang of 8, the group that drafted the
measure, frequently spoke in personal terms while extolling the bill's
virtues, rebutting its critics - and appealing to the House members who
turn comes next.
"Do the right thing for
America and for your party," said Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., who said
his mother emigrated to the United States from Cuba. "Find common
ground. Lean away from the extremes. Opt for reason and govern with us."
Arizona
Republican Sen. Jeff Flake said those seeking legal status after living
in the United States illegally must "pass a background check, make good
on any tax liability and pay a fee and a fine." There are other
requirements before citizenship can be obtained, he noted.
He,
too, spoke from personal experience, recalling time he spent as a youth
working alongside family members and "undocumented migrant labor,
largely from Mexico, who worked harder than we did under conditions much
more difficult than we endured."
Since then,
he said, "I have harbored a feeling of admiration and respect for those
who have come to risk life and limb and sacrifice so much to provide a
better life for themselves and their families."
The bill's opponents were unrelenting, if outnumbered.
"We
will admit dramatically more people than we ever have in our country's
history at a time when unemployment is high and the Congressional Budget
Office has told us that average wages will go down for 12 years, that
gross national product per capita will decline for 25-plus years, that
unemployment will go up," said Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.
"The
amnesty will occur, but the enforcement is not going to occur, and the
policies for future immigration are not serving the national interest."
But
with a weeklong July 4 congressional vacation looming, the bill's foes
agreed to permit the final vote one day before Senate rules mandated it.
In
the Senate, at least, the developments marked an end to years of
gridlock on immigration. The shift began taking shape quickly after the
2012 presidential election, when numerous Republican leaders concluded
the party must show a more welcoming face to Hispanic voters who had
given Obama more than 70 percent of their support.
Even
so, division among Republicans was evident as potential 2016
presidential contenders split. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida was one of
the Gang of 8, while Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ted Cruz of Texas
were opposed to the bill.
The legislation's
chief provisions includes numerous steps to prevent future illegal
immigration - some added in a late compromise that swelled Republican
support for the bill - and to check on the legal status of job
applicants already living in the United States. At the same time, it
offers a 13-year path to citizenship to as many as 11 million immigrants
now living in the country unlawfully.
Under
the deal brokered last week by Republican Sens. John Hoeven of North
Dakota and Bob Corker of Tennessee and the Gang of 8, the measure
requires 20,000 new Border Patrol agents, the completion of 700 miles of
fencing and deployment of an array of high-tech devices along the
U.S.-Mexico border.
Those living in the
country illegally could gain legal status while the border security plan
was being implemented, but would not be granted permanent resident
green cards or citizenship.
A plan requiring businesses to check on the legal status of prospective employees would be phased in over four years.
Other
provisions would expand the number of visas available for highly
skilled workers relied upon by the technology industry. A separate
program would be established for lower-skilled workers, and farm workers
would be admitted under a temporary program. In addition, the system of
legal immigration that has been in effect for decades would be changed,
making family ties less of a factor and elevating the importance of
education, job skills and relative youth.
With
the details of the Senate bill well-known, House Speaker John Boehner
said at a news conference the separate legislation the House considers
will have majority support among Republicans. He also said he hopes the
bill will be bipartisan, and he encouraged a group of four Democrats and
three Republicans trying to forge a compromise to continue their
efforts.
He offered no details on how a House
bill could be both bipartisan and supported by more than half of his own
rank and file, given that most of the bills that have moved through the
House Judiciary Committee recently did so on party line votes over the
protests of Democrats. None envisions legal status for immigrants now in
the country illegally.
Boehner declined to
say if there were circumstances under which he could support a pathway
to citizenship, but he made clear that securing the border was a
priority.
"People have to have confidence that
the border is secure before anything else is really going to work.
Otherwise, we repeat the mistakes of 1986," he said, referring to the
last time Congress overhauled the immigration system.
Rep.
Nancy Pelosi of California, the House Democratic leader, also said he
favors a bipartisan approach. At the same time, she noted that
Democratic principles for immigration include "secure our borders,
protect our workers, unite families, a path to legalization and now
citizenship for those" without legal status.
