Senate Vote Likely Next Week

Sarah Lueck of the Wall Street Journal, reports on Senate expectations next week:

The Senate faces a contentious debate next week on immigration, with backers of a compromise overhaul bill hopeful it will hold up.

The landmark immigration bill, the outcome of talks between congressional leaders and the White House last month, has stirred deep passions on both sides. During a recess last week, many senators’ offices were bombarded with phone calls, emails and visitors critical of the legislation, while supporters organized their own postcard drives, rallies and opinion pieces in local newspapers.

The measure would tilt policy toward immigrants with skills, lay out a path for illegal immigrants here to gain citizenship and beef up border security.

Next week, the Senate is set to vote on more than a dozen amendments, including ones aimed at allowing more relatives of immigrants to join them in the U.S. and making it harder for illegal immigrants already here to gain legal status.

Some of the changes, should they pass, could be detrimental to the fragile compromise bill, which may come to a final vote at the end of the week or the following week. Still, business groups, immigrant-rights advocates, Senate aides and administration officials say the legislation has momentum. Click here for the rest of the story.

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