After weeks of debating the proposed immigration bill, the Senate Judiciary Committee may be ready to put it to a vote this week.
According to the Associated Press, the committee is "aiming this week" to pass the historic bill that would grant a pathway to citizenship to millions of immigrants living illegally in the U.S. as well as approve measures aimed at securing the border.
Of course, the committee must first come to agreement on a few dicey issues. Among them are the amendments regarding high-skilled immigrant visas, approved by the high-tech industry but opposed by labor unions. The central issue around those H-1B visas-which will be aimed at U.S. workers so that they can get the first shot at them-is around the restrictions surrounding them.
High-tech companies seek to have legislators soften the restrictions, claiming that the language would prevent companies from using bigger numbers of such visas to hire foreign-born workers.
"The amendments are very important because they allow high-tech companies to use the visas as intended rather than creating regulations that make it so difficult they cannot practically be used," the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, which includes I.B.M. and Oracle, said in an e-mailed statement on Friday to the New York Times.
Another outstanding and contentious issue being debated involves the issue of gay marriage. Gay rights groups have been calling to the inclusion of language that allows gay Americans to sponsor their foreign-born spouses for green cards. However, Republicans-notably high-ranking ones such as U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla.-have balked on the suggestion, some even threatening to withdraw their support for the bill should such language be included.
This week, amendments focusing on the heart of the bill, the "pathway to citizenship" legislation, will be focused on by the committee.
There has been opposition from conservative GOP legislators who are attempting to remove that part of the bill, but the bipartisan U.S. Senate panel that created the bill has vowed to unilaterally vote in efforts to block any opposing efforts to stop that provision from being replaced.
Congress will be breaking for Memorial Day recess, leaving questions on how the bill will be received, particularly in the GOP-controlled House, where a two-thirds vote will be needed to approve the bill-making every vote count that much more.