The 110th Congress and Immigration Reform

Author: Robert McMahon, Deputy Editor
Counsel on Foreign Relations

Introduction

The
country’s immigration system, assailed by all sides as inadequate,
generated intense congressional debate in 2006. However, widely
divergent approaches by the House of Representatives and the Senate
doomed efforts at comprehensive reform. Democrats, now in leadership
positions in the 110th Congress, say they will attempt to revive
efforts at comprehensive immigration reform with measures that
encompass temporary work provisions, a path to citizenship for illegal
aliens in the country, as well as bolstered security at the border.
President Bush and a number of Senate Republicans share common ground
with Democrats on many key aspects of immigration reform, including
efforts to legalize many of the estimated twelve million illegal
immigrants in the country. Congressional Republicans opposed to such
moves, though diminished in numbers since the 2006 election, have vowed
to fight any attempt at what they term an amnesty for workers who break
the law.

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