Immigration Reform 2013 News: Bipartisan Senate Reform Bill Hits Snag Hours Before Deadline

The bipartisan immigration reform bill being crafted in the Senate hit a late-game snag on Friday, in a delay that may prevent the "Gang of Eight" from finishing its proposal before the Senate leaves for a two-week Easter recess.

The four Republican members of the group rejected a compromise measure that would have allowed more low-skilled workers from abroad to enter the American labor force. The Republicans disapproved of a requirement that "visas will be issued only when the employment of foreign workers will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly situated workers in the United States."

That was a measure advocated by the AFL-CIO and other labor unions and U.S. workers' rights groups, who fear that an influx of overseas labor will harm laborers currently working in the country.

Business groups wanted to be able to pay the additional workers less than what they pay local workers currently working in the same type of jobs. Labor groups wanted the new workers to be paid more, to prevent employers from driving down wages by shipping in low-cost labor.

Business groups said the requirement was too onerous and difficult to implement, so the senators are furiously working on another compromise before everyone leaves for the holiday.

For now, the two sides seem to have agreed to bring in 200,000 low-skilled workers in a new visa program, but agreement on the details still eludes them.

The senators had initially hoped to have a bill together by the end of the month. Since the Senate is out of session for the next two weeks, the month effectively ends today, postponing any kind of reform bill until mid-April.

The delay has been expected for some time, though even political pragmatists had hoped this particular issue would be resolved by now.

As with most congressional deadlines, politicians will be working late into the night hoping to make progress before the participants actually leave town to return to their home states for the recess.

We'll have an update tomorrow on their progress.