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Immigration amendment dropped from Iraq bill
Foes of illegal immigration rejoiced Wednesday after word got out that Democratic senators dropped an amendment that would have given five year visas to agricultural workers who are in the United States illegally.
The amendment, by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., had been attached to a large spending bill to pay for the Iraq war. Feinstein said it would have provided emergency relief for farmers facing a critical labor shortage.
Majority Leader Harry Reid said that the Feinstein amendment and others were dropped in order to make the Iraq spending bill more acceptable to Republicans.
Georgia GOP Sens. Johnny Isakson, and Saxby Chambliss, as well as other lawmakers had urged Reid to drop the immigration provision from the bill.
“There’s no greater domestic issue in this country than illegal immigration, and I am pleased the Senate rejected this attempt to grant amnesty on a bill designed to give our soldiers the resources they need,” Isakson said, in a joint press release with Chambliss.
Chambliss added: “I’m pleased the Senate recognized that removing this bad provision was the right thing to do. We need to ensure that funding for our troops is approved and delivered as quickly as possible without getting bogged down in an unrelated immigration debate.”
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By L1M89
May 21, 2008 4:54 PM | Link to this
Another loss for the pro-Illegal Alien Amnesty4Ever lobby, bummer. How many strike outs in a row is it now, 27???