WASHINGTON – Senators pushing a new immigration policy appealed Sunday to wavering supporters ahead of renewed debate on securing the borders and dealing with 12 million undocumented immigrants.
A fragile compromise was pulled from the Senate in early June, then resurrected after bipartisan negotiations with the White House. The bill awaits a crucial test vote this week.
The measure would tighten borders, require workplace verification and create a guest worker program. It also would lay out a way by which the estimated 12 million people illegally in the U.S. could gain legal status and work toward citizenship.
Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., who has faced critical ads back home over his support for the bill, said Sunday, “I’m not committed to voting for the final product. The wheels may come off. But I am committed to trying.”
Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., noted that since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, there have been 39 hearings on immigration, 23 days of debate in the Senate and 52 amendments.
“We know what they’re against. What are they for?” Kennedy asked Sunday.
But Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., a leading critic of the legislation, argued that support for the bill continues to plummet, both among senators thought to be behind it and among the public.
“We are going to use every effort to slow this process down and continue to hold up the bill,” he said.
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