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 News from Around the Americas | June 2007 
Senate Vote Kills Immigration Bill
 McClatchy Newspapers
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| | Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., left, speaks during a news conference on the defeat of the immigration reform legislation, Thursday, June 28, 2007, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Joining Specter from second from left are, Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. (AP/Susan Walsh) |
Washington - Efforts to overhaul the nation's tattered immigration system appear dead for this session of Congress - and possibly far longer - after the Senate on Thursday rejected a White House-backed immigration bill that would have legalized millions of undocumented immigrants.
The collapse of the bill - President Bush's top domestic priority - indefinitely continues what advocates on both sides of the issue describe as an undesirable status quo that includes a vast underground population of more than 12 million illegal immigrants.
"The American people understand the status quo is unacceptable when it comes to our immigration laws," Bush said after the Senate refused to cut off debate on the measure. "A lot of us worked hard to see if we couldn't find common ground. . . . It didn't work."
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, echoing the president's disappointment, asserted that he'd ratchet up enforcement of existing immigration laws but bemoaned the loss of $4.4 billion in enforcement money that would have been available under the bill.
Reaction to the outcome reached far outside Washington. Conservative grass-roots organizations that denounced the bill as amnesty cheered its defeat, while pro-immigrant advocates - and immigrants themselves - said the Senate's failure meant further hardship for millions of undocumented families.
"This is the worst news I've received all day," said Ignacio Caravantes, a landscaper who lives in Florida City, with his wife, Araceli, and four of their seven children, all undocumented migrants from central Mexico. "We were hoping that at least they would have voted to continue debate. That at least would have given us some hope for the future. Now, who knows what is going to happen?"
Asked about the Senate action during a news conference Thursday in Mexico City with former U.S. nemesis and Nicaraguan leftist President Daniel Ortega, Mexican President Felipe Calderon called the Senate action a "grave error," saying, "The North American economy cannot prosper and cannot advance without the labor of the migrants, both the Mexicans as well as the Central Americans."
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he remained hopeful that Congress would resurrect the issue, warning that state and local governments will try to take matters into their own hands through an uneven patchwork of local laws if Washington fails to act.
"The public is going to want us to act sooner rather than later," said Graham, a leading supporter of the bill.
But his views contrasted with what seemed to be a prevailing consensus that the Senate bill was the last chance for the current Congress to act on the issue.
"I've been the sunny optimist from the Sunshine State but today is the time to be a realist," said Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., another leading supporter. "I don't see where the political will is there for this issue to be dealt with." |
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