McCain Lacks Votes for Guest-Worker Plan

[brooklynite]

WASHINGTON - Supporters of a guest worker program that would let illegal immigrants stay in the United States said Tuesday they don't have enough Senate votes to overcome objections from conservatives who oppose the measure on grounds it amounts to amnesty.

As negotiators worked on a compromise to let those who have been here longest remain, Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record), R-Ariz., said a majority in the 100-member Senate support his and Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (news, bio, voting record)'s proposal to provide green cards to illegal immigrants after they've worked in the U.S. for six years.

But it takes 60 senators to overcome opponents' parliamentary tactics, and McCain said he doesn't have that many.

More than 11 million illegal immigrants are believed to be in the U.S., and Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., said he and Sen. Chuck Hagel (news, bio, voting record), R-Neb., are pushing a "fallback" plan that would put those who have been here the longest on a track toward citizenship but treat more recent arrivals differently. A similar approach was rejected by the Senate Judiciary Committee last week but it was revived Monday night during a meeting in Majority Leader Bill Frist's office.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060404/ap_on_go_co/immigration_13
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...which gives the impetus to the House's "Berlin Wall" strategy. Hispanic voters should love that...

[GodlessBiker]

1. Fine. Let's see who will pick the crops in Ohio.

[Bacchus39]

3. who has been doing it up until now??

never was an issue before.

[GodlessBiker]

4. A whole lot of people who some people now say shouldn't be here.

[Bacchus39]

6. Mexican immigrants in Ohio is relatively recent

Ohio has been a farming state since it was founded. It got along fine for 200+ years.

[GodlessBiker]

7. In 1988 I worked for a farmworkers' rights group, and there were plenty ..

of Mexican farmworkers. I guess 1988 is recent.

[Bacchus39]

8. I am from Ohio so plenty is relative

in 88 there were no where near as many immigrants in Ohio let alone the country as there are now.

again, Ohio got along fine without illegal immigrants for centuries.

[GodlessBiker]

10. I agree, there are definitely more immigrants now.

But almost all of the fields in several counties in NE Ohio were being farmed with migrant laborers in 1988 In fact, in 1988, many people did not order pickles on their hamburgers as a small protest of the working conditions migrant laborers had to live under.

[Bacchus39]

11. and I am not against legal immigration either

just making a point. in fact, I believe that its just getting more noticable now because there are alot more immigrants now than before.

[MrTriumph]

2. Don't you have a fence around your back yard?

Seems like fences work pretty well.

[rodeodance]

5. well,Frist could stop the parlimentary procedures.

[TheVirginian]

12. How so?

[AzDar]

9. He also lacks: balls, emotional stability, and any hope for the '08

nomination...

[DinahMoeHum]

13. "Guest-worker" is just a fancy name for "Bracero", anyway.

and it's not a question of amnesty, it's a question of slavery.

:evilfrown: