The Senate passed a historic immigration-reform bill this afternoon, 68 to 32. The bill would create a new "blue card" program for agricultural workers, most of whom are generally believed to be in the U.S. illegally, and give them an easier path to citizenship than most others.
“It’s landmark legislation that will secure our borders and help 11 million people get right with the law,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) disagreed, saying “In its current form, it won’t become law.” Many House conservatives oppose the pathway-to-citizenship part of the bill, but Republican leaders generally believe immigration reform is needed for their party to expand its appeal to Hispanics. The bill got 14 GOP votes.
President Obama issued a statement saying in part, As this process moves forward, I urge everyone who cares about this issue to keep a watchful eye. Now is the time when opponents will try their hardest to pull this bipartisan effort apart so they can stop commonsense reform from becoming a reality."
The bill would open the door for 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the country to become legal citizens. It would also lead to 20,000 new border Patrol agents, and require the completion of 700 miles of fencing, and "an array of high-tech devices to be deployed to secure the border with Mexico," The Associated Press reports. "Those security changes would be accomplished over a decade and would have to be in place before anyone in provisional legal status could obtain a permanent resident green card."
"Businesses would be required to check on the legal status of prospective employees," AP reports. "Other provisions would expand the number of visas for highly skilled workers relied upon by the technology industry. A separate program would be established for lower-skilled workers, and farm workers would be admitted under a temporary program." (Read more)
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| Harry Reid |
President Obama issued a statement saying in part, As this process moves forward, I urge everyone who cares about this issue to keep a watchful eye. Now is the time when opponents will try their hardest to pull this bipartisan effort apart so they can stop commonsense reform from becoming a reality."
The bill would open the door for 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the country to become legal citizens. It would also lead to 20,000 new border Patrol agents, and require the completion of 700 miles of fencing, and "an array of high-tech devices to be deployed to secure the border with Mexico," The Associated Press reports. "Those security changes would be accomplished over a decade and would have to be in place before anyone in provisional legal status could obtain a permanent resident green card."
"Businesses would be required to check on the legal status of prospective employees," AP reports. "Other provisions would expand the number of visas for highly skilled workers relied upon by the technology industry. A separate program would be established for lower-skilled workers, and farm workers would be admitted under a temporary program." (Read more)
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