Immigration legislation moving to Senate floor

Bipartisan legislation moving to the Senate floor offers the best chance in years to overhaul the US immigration system, and at the same time gives President Barack Obama an opportunity for a landmark second-term domestic triumph.
A bipartisan group of eight senators drafted the bill and then shepherded it through the Senate Judiciary Committee. The measure is supported by the White House, the AFL-CIO trade union federation and the Chamber of Commerce, the pro-business lobbying group. Many Republican political strategists view immigration reform as vital to the party's efforts to show a more welcoming face to the rapidly growing bloc of Hispanic voters.

In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama said there is no reason Congress can't pass the immigration overhaul by the end of summer. He said the bill's opponents would do everything possible to stop it by playing politics, stoking fear and dividing people, and if they succeed the nation would miss a chance to fix the badly broken immigration system.
Despite the widespread support, the bill's passage is by no means assured, given that 60 votes are usually required to overcome procedural road blocks to end Senate debate and pass legislation. There are currently 54 senators, including two independents, in the Democratic caucus, and 45 Republicans.

A large segment of the Republicans' conservative base oppose the measure which would create a path to citizenship for the millions of immigrants who are in the US illegally. Most potential Republican presidential candidates firmly oppose the measure.
That has put Sen. Mario Rubio, a Cuban-American, in an awkward position. The Florida Republican helped negotiate the bipartisan bill now headed to the full Senate, and recently has called for changes as he tries to keep faith with tea party supporters and other conservatives who will vote in the 2016 presidential primaries and caucuses.

Internal divisions in the Republican Party, deeply held differences over policy, concerns over costs and more add to the complexity of legislation that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said must come to a final vote by July 4.

A memo recently distributed to Senate Democrats advised them to stress that immigrants who are in the US illegally would have to work, learn English, pass a background check and, especially, pay taxes before they could gain citizenship.
The memo also advises supporters to emphasize that 100 per cent of the US-Mexican border will be put under surveillance, that immigrants who gain legal status won't be eligible for welfare "for over a decade" and that anyone entering the United States unlawfully in the future will be barred from legal status.