WASHINGTON -- The sweeping Senate immigration bill, approved Thursday 68-32 after three weeks of debate, now faces a brick wall - the Republican-led House of Representatives. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, head of the House GOP's conservative caucus, didn't waste anytime in declaring the legislation unacceptable. "America has always been a nation that welcomes legal immigrants who come seeking a...
WASHINGTON -- The sweeping Senate immigration bill, approved Thursday 68-32 after three weeks of debate, now faces a brick wall - the Republican-led House of Representatives.
Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, head of the House GOP's conservative caucus, didn't waste anytime in declaring the legislation unacceptable.
"America has always been a nation that welcomes legal immigrants who come seeking a better life, like my great-grandparents did when they came here from Italy, but our broken immigration system won't be fixed until we first secure our border and start fixing the broken parts of our legal immigration system," Scalise said. "Unfortunately, the 1,200 page Senate bill fails to secure the border and properly address the needs of the more than four million people waiting in line to enter our country legally."
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said he's still hopeful a bipartisan bill can make it through the House. But House Republican immigration bills, focused almost entirely on better border enforcement and without the Senate language for eventual legal status for the estimated 11 million illegal immigrations, have moved through committee on party-line votes.
The Senate bill combines tough new security provisions with a process giving illegal immigrants temporary legal status, and a 13-year pathway, with requirements to pay back taxes, fees, and learn English, toward permanent status.
Its passage came with Vice President Joe Biden presiding over the Senate, and with each member voting from their desks - a process reserved only for the most important legislation.
Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., whose vote drew scrutiny along with other moderate Democrats up for re-election in 2014, joined all 52 Democrats, the Senate's two independents and 14 Republicans in voting yes.
"My vote today supports a strong, bipartisan and balanced immigration reform bill that puts unprecedented resources into more robust and smarter border security measures and builds on the impressive progress we have already made," Landrieu said. "Since 2006, Congress has doubled the number of border patrol agents to 21,370. This bill will add 19,200 more. And while we have established 651 miles of fencing in the last seven years, this bill will increase that by another 350 miles of fencing and implement smarter technology to enhance security at the border."
"All these investments, measures and tools will help us significantly reduce illegal crossings even more. And most importantly, the bill will bring accountability to those who have entered this country illegally by requiring them to pay taxes and fines, learn English and go to the back of the line before U.S. citizenship is an option."
Sen. David Vitter, R-La., was one of the bill's most fervent critics, speaking regularly on the Senate floor and participating in regular news conferences by opponent. His main criticism throughout was that the bill gave temporary legal status before all the enhanced security provisions are undertaken.
"The vote today was very disappointing for one simple reason: this bill wouldn't solve the problem if it became law and would probably make it a lot worse," Vitter said. "It's amnesty now, enforcement, maybe, much later. We tried that in 1986, and illegals quadrupled,."
While supporters said winning 68 out of 100 Senate votes, including 14 from Republicans, will provide the legislation with momentum, Vitter said the bill's failure to gain 70 votes, as some backers had predicted, means "no momentum" as the issue switches to the more conservative House.
Supporters of the bill say that without temporary legal status, illegal immigrants would continue to face job exploitation and be forced to take low pay -- often below the minimum wage -- depressing wages and job opportunities for legal workers.
Thursday's vote came after three weeks of debate. It wasn't until well into week two, when two Republican senators worked out a border security enhancement plan with the bill's four Democratic and four Republican authors - that passage was assured.
Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., one of the amendment's authors said: "This is the toughest border security measure to ever pass the Senate, and from economic, national security, deficit-reduction and moral standpoints, it's the right thing to do." In addition to doubling the number of border agents, the bill provides other security enhancements, including drowns to bolster the anti-illegal immigration effort.
Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., a member of the Gang of 8 that drafted the bill, talked about his own experiences as a youth working alongside mostly Mexican migrant laborers "who worked harder than we did, under conditions much more difficult than we endured.
Since then, "I have harbored a feeling of admiration and respect for those who have come to risk life and limb and sacrifice so much to provide a better life for themselves and their families," Flake said.
The outnumbered opponents said that the bill, with increases in federal guest worker programs, would make it harder for Americans to find and keep jobs, or, if they find a job, earn a decent wage.
"Let's look at our own situation right here in America: Twenty-one million Americans are unable to find full-time work," said Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala. "One in three without a high school diploma are unemployed. Forty-seven million Americans are on food stamps. Labor force participation is the lowest since the 1970s... this legislation has not given thought to the plight of these unemployed Americans."
Landrieu's office provided statements from some Louisiana business and labor groups that backed the Senate immigration bill.
Among them, this from Stan Harris, president and CEO of the Louisiana Restaurant Association.
"At every level, immigrants comprise a large percentage of the total staff of our nation's restaurants," Harris said. "The United States needs standard comprehensive immigration reform to provide consistency and avoid creating an unnecessary burden for employers. The Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013 will provide certainty for America's workers and employers and create a reliable employment verification system."