By Chris Cermak Jun 28, 2007, 17:27 GMT
Washington - An overhaul of US immigration laws may have to wait until the country elects a new leader, after legislation spearheaded by President George W Bush was withdrawn from the US Senate on Thursday.
A motion to end debate and bring the bill to a formal vote was quashed 53-46, prompting Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to remove the initiative - the first major reform effort in 20 years - from the floor.
Bush, in a short statement to reporters, called the vote a 'disappointment,' adding that the 'status quo is unacceptable when it comes to our immigration laws.'
Most Republican senators and some Democrats had long opposed Bush's immigration proposals, which included a 'guest worker' programme and - most controversially - a path to citizenship for the estimated 11-12 million illegal immigrants in the United States.
Democrats, who supported Bush's efforts, left open the possibility of reviving the legislation in the current session of Congress, which lasts until January 2009. But chances appeared slim as immigration reform is likely to become more divisive and emotional as the 2008 presidential election nears.
'We will come back, it's only a question of when,' said Reid, the top Democrat in the chamber.
The product of an uneasy compromise between moderate Republicans and Democrats in the Senate, opponents had charged that the bill did little to improve border security while granting de-facto amnesty to illegal immigrants.
Bush two weeks ago backed a proposal to add 4.4 billion dollars to the bill for tightening controls along the borders in an effort to appease conservatives in his own Republican party.
A successful vote earlier this week to allow debate on the legislation had raised supporters' hopes that passage might be possible. But a slew of rejected amendments to the bill on Wednesday made it likely that Thursday's effort to get the 60 votes needed to push a final vote would fail.
Bush has made comprehensive immigration reform one of his top domestic priorities and had personally lobbied sceptical senators in an effort to keep the bill afloat earlier this week.
The administration says the temporary worker plan would provide US industries with workers for those jobs that US citizens are not taking, while also clamping down on the hiring of illegal workers.
Illegal immigrants would also have to pay a fine, acknowledge wrongdoing, get on probation and commit to learning English before being eligible for US citizenship.
Democrats vowed to bring fresh immigration legislation back to the chamber in the future.
'We are in this struggle for the long haul. Today's defeat will not stand,' said Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy, a co-sponsor of the bill.
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