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 Editorials | Issues | June 2007 
Blow to Bush as Immigration Bill Crashes Down
 Agence France-Presse
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| | US President George W. Bush makes remarks at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. Bush on Thursday expressed "disappointment" with the collapse of an immigration bill in the US Congress, calling the outcome "unacceptable." (AFP/Jim Watson) |
The US Senate dealt a severe blow to President George W. Bush Thursday, blocking a landmark immigration reform seen as one of his last, best hopes for a legacy-boosting second term victory.
Senators voted 53 to 46 against keeping the bill alive, a stunning repudiation of the attempt to grant a path to citizenship for 12 million illegal immigrants. The move likely ends Senate action on the issue before 2009.
After weeks of emotional debate the bipartisan backers of the measure fell well short of the 60 vote super-majority needed to move the bill, branded by opponents as an "amnesty," towards a final vote.
Bush, whose ebbing power hampered his bid to persuade more than 12 fellow Republicans to support the measure, appeared to admit defeat.
"Congress's failure to act on it is a disappointment," said Bush, beset by rock bottom approval ratings and battling Congress on multiple fronts, including over Iraq and over fired federal prosecutors.
"A lot of us worked hard to see if we could find common ground. It didn't work. Congress really needs to prove to the American people that it can come together on hard issues," Bush said.
Hours before the vote, the US Capitol's telephone switchboard was jammed by thousands of calls from groups and individuals for and against the bill, reflecting its fiercely divisive impact on US politics.
Republican Senator David Vitter, who worked to thwart the bill, said the message was "crystal clear" that Americans wanted action to secure borders before helping out illegal immigrants already in the country.
"They want action, they want results, they want proof, because they've heard all the promises before."
Fellow rebel Senator Jim DeMint added: "The Senate rejected this bill, and the heavy handed tactics used to ram it through."
Senator Arlen Specter, a Republican who supported the measure, had warned that if the vote did not succeed, "the bill is dead" with a tense political climate looming in the run-up to the 2008 elections.
But his ally on the issue, veteran Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy said that immigration reform was inevitable, though it might take years.
"We will be back. This issue is not going away. This is really a part of a whole march for progress for our nation and the country." he said.
The measure had staggered in the Senate for weeks, collapsing once before earlier this month under fierce opposition, mainly from conservatives.
Democrats from conservative districts also found it difficult to support the bill, and some fretted at the terms of its "low wage" guest worker program.
The measure would have granted an eventual path to legal status to some 12 million illegal immigrants.
It would have replaced the current family-dominated immigration system with a merit-based points formula, and attempt to cut a huge backlog for permanent resident "green card" applicants.
Even had the bill passed the Senate, it would have been assured a rocky welcome in the House of Representatives, as this week an influential group of Republican lawmakers, voted by 114 votes to 23 to oppose it.
Democratic House leaders had warned Bush he would have needed around 70 Republican votes to ensure passage of the bill - to make up for Democrats from conservative districts opposed to it.
Immigration advocates expressed disappointment over the bill's failure.
"There is no way to sugarcoat it" said Frank Sharry, Executive Director of the National Immigration forum, a pro-immigrant advocacy group, saying reform advocates "suffered a significant setback."
"What happens next in Congress is unclear. But what happens on the ground is not. Immigrant workers and families will continue to live in fear, die in the desert, and be subject to exploitation." |
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