US: The United States senate is close to approving a bill that would allow most of America's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants, thousands of whom are Irish, to remain in the country legally and eventually apply for US citizenship. Denis Staunton in Washington
Senate majority leader Bill Frist is expected to propose a motion to end debate on the bill later today and a final vote is likely tomorrow.
The bill's passage became almost certain yesterday when senators rejected key amendments, including one from California Democrat Diane Feinstein which would have removed some restrictions on which illegal immigrants would be eligible for legal status.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern is in Washington today for meetings with senators and congressmen, including Republicans John McCain and Chuck Hagel (who have played key roles in promoting immigration reform) and senate judiciary committee chairman Arlen Specter.
Mr Ahern will also meet leaders of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform which has led the campaign on behalf of undocumented Irish immigrants in the US.
The senate bill would allow illegal immigrants who have been in the US for more than five years to embark on a path to citizenship after paying a fine, studying English, settling back taxes and working for a number of years.
Those who have been in the US for more than two years but less than five would have to return to a port of entry into the country before starting the same process. Illegal immigrants who came to the US less than two years ago would have to go home.
Before the senate bill becomes law, it must be merged with a bill passed last year by the house of representatives which would criminalise all illegal immigrants and impose tougher penalties on those who employ them.
Representatives from both houses of congress will negotiate a compromise bill in a conference that could start as early as next month, and the final bill would then be put to a vote in each house.
The final bill is certain to be less generous to illegal immigrants than the senate proposal and there is no guarantee that congress will ultimately agree on any immigration reform.
Conservative Republicans are determined to block what they see as an amnesty for illegal immigrants, and a spokesman for house speaker Dennis Hastert said this week no measure would be introduced to the floor of the House that does not have the support of a majority of Republicans.
This "majority of the majority" rule could prove a serious impediment to the passage of a comprehensive reform bill, even if enough Democrats and Republicans support it to form a majority in the House.
Indiana Republican congressman Mike Pence yesterday proposed a compromise plan that would allow illegal immigrants to apply for a guest worker visa for up to six years but would oblige them to leave the US after that.
The grandson of an Irish immigrant, Mr Pence insists, however, that immigrants would have to leave the US first before applying for the visa at a US consulate abroad. "That is a key point because it is the provision that will require the 12 million illegal aliens to leave. Now, some of you are thinking to yourselves that 12 million people aren't going to pack up and leave just to get a visa to come back legally. But I believe most will," he said.