Democrats to Proceed Cautiously

Jeanne Butterfield of the American Immigration Lawyers Association predicted that lobbyists and Democrats have less than a year to move legislation that could put some 12 million illegal immigrants on a path to legal residency, before the looming 2008 elections make a deal politically impossible. And analysts say the fate of President Bush’s proposal to create a temporary worker program for 200,000 immigrants is in doubt, with labor’s allies in charge.

In recent days, advocates have been burning up the phone lines talking to one another and to try to determine whom House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the presumed speaker of the next Congress, will appoint to key committees, and how the new Democratically controlled Congress will approach the issue. Click here.

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