‘Imperfect’ measure faces a tsunami of amendments

The Senate yesterday agreed to take up its new bipartisan immigration bill, starting a long and contentious amendment process likely to strain alliances on both sides of the aisle and create new challenges in the presidential race.

“Nearly everyone agrees that the existing bill is imperfect,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) as debate on the motion to proceed opened yesterday. He pointed to this year’s 326-page bill as a starting point for debate this week.

{mosads}The core group of bipartisan senators who negotiated the deal last week agreed to kill off any amendment that
substantively alters the bill. However, since there is no way to define such an amendment, disagreements could emerge over what the group should strike.

“It’s all gray,” said Angela Kelley, deputy director of the National Immigration Forum. “There’s no black and white as to what cuts to the heart of the agreement.”

The procedural motion to begin floor work on the immigration bill was approved 69-23, even though several conservatives voted against the motion, arguing that the process to proceed was rushed. But the true test of the new “grand bargain” could come as soon as today, as the core group holding the tenuous deal together begins deciding when, or whether, to cut off debate.

Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have agreed on two weeks of debate, which would allow for a nationwide discussion during the Memorial Day recess. But any attempt to file cloture early on the substitute amendment that is the starting vehicle for the bill risks sharp criticism from Republicans.

The bill also was still undergoing changes yesterday afternoon, which complicated efforts to write amendments, according to Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.). Menendez told The Hill he expected to file at least two amendments to make it easier for those with family members in the U.S. to gain permanent residency, but he was still drafting one yesterday because of late changes to the underlying bill.

Menendez said one of his amendments would award points to those immigrants seeking U.S. residency who already have families in the U.S. The current application process for permanent residency gives great weight to those with family members in the U.S., while the Senate bill would shift the emphasis to job skills and English language proficiency.

This provision is among the most controversial for civil rights and religious groups, and it has also prompted criticism from Democratic presidential candidates Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.).

Menendez said his office had “given some of our amendments” to other offices, including Clinton and a second presidential hopeful, Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), whom Menendez said is working with Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) on another amendment.

Other sources said they expected both Obama and John Kerry (D-Mass.) to file amendments.

However, getting floor time for amendments could be tough. Menendez said he expected a total of only 10 to 15 amendments to be considered on the floor, while Kelley of the National Immigration Forum said that the Senate leadership has told advocacy groups that it does not expect to consider a lot of amendments.

The next hurdle for the bill to clear will be a planned amendment from Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) to cut the bill’s temporary-worker program in half, from 400,000 visas annually to 200,000. Although a similar Bingaman provision last year passed overwhelmingly, the measure would set the stage for another amendment from Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) that eliminates the temporary-worker program altogether.

Last year, the Dorgan amendment failed on a procedural motion, splitting Reid — who voted against the Dorgan provision — from the majority of his caucus. Among Democratic White House rivals, Clinton, Obama and Dodd backed the Dorgan proposal last year, while Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.) supported preserving the temporary-worker program in some form.
“Allowing these temporary workers to apply for possible citizenship through a new ‘points’ system is not good enough,” Reid said of the new bill’s program. “There must be more certain opportunities for those who are willing to work hard and contribute to our economy.”

The AFL-CIO, Unite Here! and the Service Employees International Union all object to the temporary-worker program, which they say would create a second class of workers with fewer rights who would not have a path to citizenship. But these groups have not stated definitively whether they would call for the defeat of the Senate bill if it is unchanged.

“I’m not going to go there right now,” said Tom Snyder of Unite Here!, which represents textile workers. He said those advocating for an immigration bill will also have the chance to change it in the House, where Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has criticized several provisions of the Senate bill.  

Menendez said he doesn’t know whether he would vote against a Senate bill that did not contain either of his amendments.
He said this would also depend on the fate of other amendments and calculations over whether it would be better to move the bill and hope for improvements in the House.

As for Republicans, Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) said he would push to strike the “Z visa” program that gives probationary legal status to the 12 million illegal immigrants currently in the country.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a leading participant in the immigration talks who ultimately withheld support for the deal, is considering three amendments, according to staff sources. The first would offset the cost of a state assistance fund backed by Clinton, the second would enable information-sharing to combat immigration fraud, and the third would strengthen curbs on felons applying for citizenship.