Source: Frist will revive immigration bill

Proposal would increase border-security funding by $2 billion

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Senate Majority
Leader Bill Frist will bring a stalled immigration bill back to the
Senate floor by Memorial Day, a Republican leadership aide said Friday.

In
what the aide called a “bow” to right-wing critics of the bill, the
Tennessee Republican also will propose increasing funding for border
security by $2 billion.

Frist said he would revive the bill after it stalled in the Senate earlier this month, but he gave no timetable.

Two
weeks ago, the Senate was near a compromise on increasing border
security, creating a guest-worker program and developing a system
through which illegal immigrants already in the country could gain
legal status.

Proponents of the latter called the system “earned citizenship,” while opponents decried it as “amnesty.”

The
bill was puttering, but it stalled when Senate Minority Leader Harry
Reid of Nevada objected to Frist’s decision to let GOP senators amend
the measure.

Supporters say the compromise bill has the support
of 65 to 70 senators, enough, if necessary, to overcome a filibuster by
conservatives who object to the “earned citizenship” or “amnesty”
clauses.

If the measure were to pass the Senate, it would have
to be reconciled with an immigration plan passed by the House in
December. The House version includes neither a guest-worker program nor
a legalization process.