WASHINGTON - The Senate voted Wednesday to advance the most significant revisions to U.S. immigration law in a generation, clearing the way for final passage as soon as today.
By a vote of 67-31, senators voted to advance a bipartisan bill that includes a path to citizenship for as many as 11 million illegal aliens in the U.S. By a vote of 69-29, senators also adopted a related amendment to bolster security at the U.S.-Mexico border.
In both votes, the Republican senator from Arkansas, John Boozman, voted no, and Democrat Mark Pryor voted yes.
“A permanent compromise solution to our dysfunctional system is really in sight,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. “It is my hope that our colleagues in the House will follow the Senate’s lead and work to pass bipartisan reform and do it now.”
The Senate is concluding its third week of debate on the immigration legislation, which seeks to balance Democrats’ goal of granting citizenship rights with Republicans’ demand for stricter border controls. Thirteen Republicans, including Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire and Orrin Hatch of Utah, supported advancing the bill. All of the opponents were Republicans, including Minority leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who is seeking re-election next year.
The border-security plan adopted Wednesday, the costliest ever, was crafted at the insistence of key Republicans, including Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, a co-sponsor of the broader legislation. It would double the size of the U.S. Border Patrol and require an additional 350 miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border, at a price tag its backers say will reach $38 billion.
Information for this article was contributed by Kathleen Hunter and Laura Litvan of Bloomberg News and by David Espo and Erica Werner of The Associated Press.
Front Section, Pages 2 on 06/27/2013