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U.S. Senate to revive immigration bill

— PHOTO: AFP

PRESSING CLAIMS: An activist at an anti-immigrant rally sponsored by the Minuteman Project in Washington in this June 15, 2007 photo.

Washington: Raising the hopes of millions of illegal immigrants, including Indians, the U.S. Senate has revived a stalled immigration bill that could pave the way for legalisation of their status. The Senate voted 64-35 on Tuesday to resume debate on the bill, which ties tough border security and workplace enforcement measures to a plan to legalise an estimated 12 million immigrants.

The controversial Senate immigration reform bill passed a major legislative test when the democratic leadership managed to round up enough votes to invoke cloture on the bill. According to the rules of the Senate, a cloture vote that seeks to reopen debate on the bill’s amendments and seeing a final vote requires the backing of 60 lawmakers. Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid has assured that every one of the amendments including that of the H-1B visas would be debated. The original version had a provision to increase the H-1B numbers from 65,000 to 115,000 with built in annual increases. But Senators Richard Durbin and Chuck Grassley have moved an amendment on the H1B and the L-1 visas that seeks to tighten considerably what potential employers can and cannot do with high skilled jobs. Mr. Reid acknowledged that the H-1B visas had been a point of discussion leading right up to the cloture vote. — PTI

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