New Delhi: The much talked about immigration bill survived challenges in the Senate on Wednesday.
The bill will face a critical test on Thursday, as voting takes place on the 26 amendments to the bill.
It was voted 64-35 on Tuesday and debate on the bill is set to resume. The legislation, which is supported by President George W Bush, would bring in tighter border controls.
The issue is the centerpiece of Bush's second term, and offers a path to citizenship to 12 million people.
President Bush has now personally appealed to his party to back the legislation.
“I want to thank you for working hard. We have a couple of hard days ahead of us to get through the first stage of the process and then of course, once successful in the senate, we'll be reconvening to figure out get the bill out of the house. It is an important piece of legislation. Its an important time to act for the sake of the country,” he said.
“We know that there's a long debate ahead when it comes to comprehensive immigration reform. But we are certainly pleased with the early vote on motion to proceed,” said White House Press Secretary, Tony Snow.
But skepticism runs deep among conservative Republicans including Texas Senator John Cornyn. He voted not to move forward with debate questioning whether the government would make good on its pledges to crack down on illegal immigrants.
But the president showed no signs of backing away from a guest worker program.
Attempts to alter the key elements of the Bill including a Republican proposal to deny illegal immigrants a path to citizenship and Democratic bids to reunite legal immigrants with family members were denied on Wednesday.
(with agency inputs)
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