Immigration Bill Fails Crucial U.S. Senate Vote

A sharply divided U.S. Senate on Thursday threw into doubt the fate of a White House-backed plan to revamp U.S. immigration laws.

A sharply divided U.S. Senate on Thursday threw into doubt the fate of a White House-backed plan to revamp U.S. immigration laws.

In a serious blow to the bipartisan effort, the Senate fell 27 votes short of the 60 votes needed in the 100-member chamber to limit debate and advance the major overhaul toward passage.

The action followed a series of amendments that upset the delicately balanced compromise hammered out by senators and the White House and makes it less likely the controversial changes, already an issue in advance of the November 2008 presidential election, can be enacted before President George W. Bush leaves office.

The Democratic leader of the Senate, Harry Reid of Nevada, quickly set another vote for later on Thursday in a bid to resolve the disputes.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said his fellow Republicans needed more time to work on the bill that ties tough border security and workplace enforcement measures to a guest-worker program and a plan to legalize an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants.

"Rushing this bill benefits no one and jeopardizes the fragile compromise both sides have worked hard to achieve," McConnell said before the vote.

Bush backs the compromise and lawmakers are under pressure to fix what many Americans agree is a broken immigration system through which millions of illegal immigrants have slipped into the country.

But the bill has come under attack from the right and left, with conservatives arguing it will give amnesty to people who broke U.S. laws and unions saying the temporary worker program will create an underclass of cheap laborers.

The bill also would create a new merit-based system for future immigrants that takes into account education, family ties, work experience and other job skills.

The compromise started to unravel after the Senate voted earlier to terminate the guest-worker program after five years. The guest-worker program, which would allow workers to temporarily take jobs in the United States, is backed by business. Republicans said the amendment upset the deal and wanted it changed.

Sen. Edward Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat who helped broker the compromise, said lawmakers would work to patch it up in hopes of eventually passing the bill in the Senate.

If the bill passes the Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives is likely to take up its own version.