The Senate on Tuesday voted to open debate on a comprehensive immigration bill, staving off a filibuster 82 to 15. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said he expects several weeks of deliberation before final votes and the July 4th recess. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was one of the Republicans who voted to start debate but demanded major changes to the bill before he will support it. All of the 15 senators that voted to block debate were Republicans.
The vote was another test of the so-called “gang of eight” framework that passed out of committee last month. Republicans are pushing for stronger border control provisions, while senators from both sides of the aisle are considering introducing other amendments to the bill that could potentially disrupt the delicate political coalition championing the legislation.
Meanwhile, a Fox News poll released yesterday found that 81 percent of those voters surveyed want to strengthen border security and stop additional illegal entry into the country. In addition, 74 percent favor finding a way for the 11 million illegal immigrants already in the country to remain, and eventually become citizens, if they meet certain requirements, such as paying back taxes, learning to speak English, and passing a background check. Most of those surveyed (76 percent) think it is important to pass major immigration reform legislation this year–44 percent say it is “very” important and 32 percent say “somewhat” important.
The Fox News polls is based on phone interviews with 1,019 randomly chosen registered voters nationwide. The full poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.
