I guess we must wait until April 24th

[GOW125]

The compromise bill only got 38-60 votes, the Senators say that they will continue working on the bill when they comeback from recess in two weeks. They keep blaming each other for not moving the bill forward, but they are all in fault for not agreeing on the bill. The waiting game continues.....

[juang]

really?

i found this, Nick please post it in the "news" section :-)

http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.asp?feed=FT&Date=20060407&ID=5627613



April 07, 2006 12:12 PM ET

Immigration proposals fail in Senate test vote

A compromise bill to overhaul US immigration law failed on Friday on its first test vote as the US Senate failed to breach the divide on measures to allow most of the country's illegal immigrants to remain in the US legally.

The failed vote came only a day after Senate appeared to have broken the stalemate on reform as complaints resurfaced that the bill would give an amnesty to illegal immigrants.

The bipartisan compromise reached on Thursday was meant to pave the way for the most sweeping overhaul of US immigration laws in two decades, but it had to be reconciled with tough House legislation that offered no path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.

Immigration is an issue has divided the Republican party and triggered massive protests from hispanic groups across the US.

On Thursday, Bill Frist, the Senate Republican leader, called the compromise proposals "a negotiated middle ground [that] has been put on the table which says that these 11m people who are here, undocumented people, illegal immigrants, are not a monolithic group".

The compromise proposals were drawn up by Republican Senators Chuck Hagel and Mel Martinez, was welcomed by Republican John McCain and Democrat Edward Kennedy, who in a rare move had worked across the partisan divide in Washington to support a future guestworker programme and allow current illegal immigrants a path to citizenship.

The tabular content relating to this article is not available to view. Apologies in advance for the inconvenience caused.

Americans have faced a wrenching debate in recent weeks between those who want to deport illegal immigrants and beef up border security, and those who argue that the demand for labour in the US will continue to draw poor workers regardless of the penalties that are threatened.

The new bill had aimed to avoid the appearance of conferring amnesty on illegal immigrants, allowing only those who have been in the US for more than five years to stay in the country to adjust to legal status.

Failure to pass a Senate bill by the end of the week could torpedo the chances of immigration reform this year. But difficult negotiations with the House still remain. The House bill, which would make illegal immigration a felony and criminalise those who aided illegal immigrants, triggered a rally by 500,000 protestors in Los Angeles last month, the largest in the city's history. More demonstrations are scheduled for Monday across the US.

Under the Republican Senate proposal, illegal immigrants who have been in the US for more than five years – about two-thirds of the 11m – could switch to legal status without leaving the country if they met eight requirements, such as speaking English, having worked for at least three of the last five years and having paid all federal and state taxes.

Illegal immigrants in the US for between two and five years could secure a temporary work visa but must first leave the country. They would be able to apply for legal status later and would have priority over other immigrants applying for green cards.

Illegal immigrants in the country for fewer than two years would be forced to return home and apply for a temporary worker visa. The bill proposes allowing roughly 400,000 new gueast workers to come to the US each year.

Copyright 2006 Financial Times

PEOPLE, please dont panic (yet) it was only a "test vote" we will have to wait until the end of the session for real news
And by the way, does anyone know how many tests votes there are?

[GOW125]

Juang, they decided to end everything until they come back from vacation, regardless if it was the first second or fifth vote. We have to wait and see what happens in two weeks.

[juang]

Juang, they decided to end everything until they come back from vacation, regardless if it was the first second or fifth vote. We have to wait and see what happens in two weeks.

GOW125, so whats the big deal about it? we have been undocumented for years, i dont think 2 weeks will literarily kill us, right?

[GOW125]

You are right Juang, sometimes I get a little upset. I'm going to get piss drunk right now and forget what happened today. [/url]

[juang]

can i come too? when you share problems they sure are not as heavy :-)

[Nick]

Yeah, but the more people the more problems. :wink:

I think this could still go in pretty much any direction. But to be honest I felt it was pretty discouraging when the Martinez compromize only got 39 (or 38 was it?) votes. :cry: