US immigration bill moves one step forward

Senate Judiciary Committee approves potentially historic legislation following weeks of marathon hearings.

Senator Patrick Leahy forced to withdraw measure allowing gay Americans to sponsor foreign-born spouses [AFP]

A sweeping overhaul of the US immigration system has taken a major step toward viability when a Senate panel gave bipartisan approval to a landmark bill offering a path to citizenship for millions. The Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday approved the contentious and potentially historic legislation by a 13-5 vote, following weeks of marathon hearings and meetings to consider more than 200 amendments. The bill emerged with its core mostly intact, including requirements for major advances in border security, visa programs for high- and low-skilled workers, and expansion of a comprehensive e-verify system for employers. It needs 60 votes to pass the 100-seat Senate, and would then head to the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, where its fate is uncertain and where lawmakers are drawing up their own immigration legislation. "We've got a ways to go but we will get there," exuberant Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer, one of four Democrats and four Republicans to craft the huge bill, said after the bipartisan vote. The legislation, which would legalise more than 11 million undocumented people currently in the shadows and set most of them on a 13-year path to citizenship, is now set for a debate showdown on the Senate floor in June. Leahy setback President Barack Obama cheered the vote and urged lawmakers to put partisanship aside in order to help it clear the Senate. "None of the committee members got everything they wanted, and neither did I, but in the end we all owe it to the American people to get the best possible result over the finish line," the president said in a statement after what was a rare victory for him in recent weeks. An elated committee chairman Senator Patrick Leahy, who shepherded the complicated bill through a marathon markup session, said he hoped "that our history, our values and our decency can inspire us finally to take action." Leahy had suffered a setback, however, when he was forced to withdraw his key amendment, a measure that would have allowed gay Americans to sponsor their foreign-born spouses for US residency and citizenship. "This is not the bill that I would have drafted," he said. "I will continue my efforts to end the needless discrimination so many Americans face in our immigration system. This discrimination serves no legitimate purpose and it is wrong." Senator Marco Rubio, perhaps the most high-profile Republican in the "Gang of Eight" that crafted the bill, had warned that fellow conservatives would vote against the measure en masse if it included Leahy's provision.