Senators defeat border security provision
Source: AP
By ERICA WERNER | Associated Press – 13 mins ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — Bipartisan authors of a sweeping immigration bill agreed to Republican-authored amendments to boost border security, as they tried Thursday to show they're open to changes to attract more GOP support for their landmark legislation.
The bill's authors also stuck together to defeat a Republican amendment that would have barred anyone from seeking citizenship until the U.S.-Mexico border had been secured for six months. Supporters of the bill charged that the real effect of that provision would have been to delay citizenship indefinitely for the estimated 11 million people living here illegally.
The fast-paced action unfolded as the Judiciary Committee convened the first of what's expected to be two weeks of meetings to plow through some 300 amendments to the legislation backed by President Barack Obama to remake the nation's immigration laws. The bill would toughen border security, overhaul legal immigration to allow tens of thousands of new high- and low-skilled workers into the country, require all employers to check their workers' immigration status and create a 13-year path to citizenship for the millions already here.
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The vote on the Grassley amendment requiring six-month control of the border before unauthorized immigrants could begin to legalize their status was likely the first of several in which the Republican authors sided with Democrats on the committee to vote down amendments from their own side. Schumer and Durbin also are expected to lend their votes to the Republican side to defeat Democratic amendments that could improve the bill for immigrant families, but cost Republican support.
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Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/senators-defeat-border-security-provision-162928495.html
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