Immigration Reforms Shot Down By Senate

President George Bush's proposed reform of America's crisis-hit immigration system was in tatters today after a comprehensive defeat in the Senate.

His bill, intended to be the administration's lasting legacy, destroyed by a combination of Republicans and Democrats, highlights the extent of his weakness and isolation, even though he still has a year-and-half left in office.

Immigration is a hugely divisive issue in the US, the hottest political issue after Iraq and there have been repeated attempts over the years to try to fix it. There are an estimated 12 to 20 million illegal immigrants in the US, mainly from Mexico and other parts of Latin America.

The US is torn between needing the immigrants, who mainly do menial jobs that Americans do not want to do, and not wanting to give them legal status.

The Democratic leader in the senate, Harry Reid, said: "We are finished with this for the time being." He blamed Mr Bush, who was attending the G8 summit in Germany, of doing too little to bring Republican senators into line. "This the president's bill. Where are the president's people helping us with these votes?"

The bill, heralded as a breakthrough only three weeks ago, would have allowed millions of illegal immigrants temporary guest status and opened the way for them to become citizens. But Republicans protested that this was rewarding criminal behavior, in reality an amnesty, and penalizing the millions patiently waiting in their home countries, going through the proper channels.

The president now faces the prospect of leaving office in January 2009 with little to show for his time in office other than an unpopular war, with no progress on the big social, and environmental issues facing the US.

Mr Bush told South American leaders last month that if he could not get the legislation in place by September, there would be little chance after that because Congress would be diverted by next year's presidential and congressional elections.

The White House communications director, Dan Bartlett, said today the president "obviously is disappointed by the setback."

Senator Edward Kennedy, one of the leading Democratic backers of the bill, made a failed plea to give it a chance: "We can all find different aspects of this legislation that we differ with, but underneath it this is a proposal that is deeply rooted in remedying one of the great national challenges that we have, broken borders and a broken immigration system."

He described conditions on the Mexican border, where illegal immigrants are open to exploitation, as "a jungle.".

Opinion polls indicated about 50% of the population were opposed to the reform.
In a debate in New Hampshire on Tuesday night, nine out of the 10 Republicans seeking nomination for the 2008 presidential race expressed opposition to Mr Bush's plan.

One of them, Rudy Giuliani, who is opposed to the bill, today expressed concern that there are no remotely reliable figures for illegal immigration and promised that if he was elected, he would establish data collection to be called "BorderStat".

The bill effectively died in the senate late last night in a procedural vote after protracted opposition from the Republicans. Needing 60 votes to end the debate and schedule a final vote on the bill itself, the bill's supporters won only 45, with 50 opposed. Senate leaders set aside the legislation until further notice.

In theory, the bill could be resuscitated in a few weeks but, given the level of opposition over the last fortnight, there is little prospect. Some Democrats also voted against it because they said it did not go far enough.

Senator John Ensign, a Republican, who was opposed, blamed the Democrats for trying to push through such an important piece of legislation too quickly. "Well, right now I don't think the American people think that there is too much more of a priority than fixing our immigration system," he said.

"It literally is broken, and we have to design an immigration system that is good for America."

In a separate development, the Bush administration today announced it was temporarily suspending new restrictions that mean US citizens have to have passports to visit Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.

The change, announced earlier this year, has created chaos, with long delays in issuing passports and holidays missed.

Immigration: Dividing a nation

Immigration has been a contentious issue throughout US history, from 1798 when the president was given the power, under the Alien Act, to expel "dangerous" foreigners, after the anti-Irish, anti-Catholic riots of the 19th century. But nothing on the scale of the present crisis.

There are no accurate figures for the number of illegal immigrants, estimated at between 12 and 20 million, mainly Hispanics, from Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America.

Unlike in Britain, where illegal immigrants are usually taken to detention centers, there is an uneasy compromise in the US. With the economy dependent on illegal immigrants, the authorities only occasionally take action.

The problem for the illegal immigrants is that they are open to potential exploitation by unscrupulous employers. Reflecting the tension in the US, opponents of immigration from Latin America have taken to wearing T-shirts saying "Only speak English to me".

Mr Bush's reform plan, backed by Democratic and Republican Congressional leaders only three weeks ago, was to grant all illegal immigrants in the country temporary status on January 1 and to offer an avenue to full citizenship.

As a sop to opposition conservatives, the reform would have been accompanied by a promise of tougher security along the Mexican border.