Immigration Reform Stalls in Senate

June 8, 2007

On Thursday, June 7, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) withdrew the comprehensive immigration reform bill from consideration on the Senate floor. After two weeks of debate, Senators were not able to come to an agreement on how to deal with the over 300 amendments that were offered. This clash led to a failure of a procedural vote that would have forced a vote on the immigration bill. Without considerable movement towards an agreement and no end to the debate in sight, Senator Reid withdrew the immigration bill from consideration to move onto issues unrelated to immigration.

The Senate may restart the immigration debate again if the Democratic and Republican leadership can reach an agreement regarding the amendment process. It remains to be seen how the House will now proceed given the breakdown in the Senate process. The House has been waiting for the Senate to take action before beginning its debate on immigration reform.