US:President Bush will make a rare visit to Capitol Hill today in an attempt to revive a bipartisan deal on immigration reform that unravelled in the Senate last week.
The deal, which would have allowed most of an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants to remain in the US and eventually apply for citizenship, fell apart when 11 Democrats, one Independent and all but seven Republican senators voted against a procedural motion to limit debate.
"I believe we can get an immigration Bill. Now, it's going to require leadership from the Democrat leaders in the Senate, and it's going to require me to stay engaged and work with Republicans who want a Bill," Mr Bush said yesterday during a visit to the Bulgarian capital of Sofia.
Democratic leaders in the Senate have said they want to revive the immigration Bill and campaigners for reform intend to keep pressure on senators this week to give the Bill one more chance.
Republican leaders have promised to consider the Bill again if they are allowed to propose a number of changes to it but deputy Senate majority leader Dick Durbin said that Democrats would not let the Bill be subjected to death by amendment.
"We need a breakthrough on the Republican side. We're not going to waste more time on procedural slowdowns," he said.
Apart from creating a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants now in the US, who include thousands of Irish citizens, the Bill would create a temporary worker programme, toughen border security and impose harsher penalties on those who come to the US illegally in the future.
For the first time, more emphasis would be placed on job skills - instead of family ties - to determine who can work legally in the US.
Even if the Senate passes the Bill, the measure will face fierce opposition in the House of Representatives, particularly from conservative Republicans but also from Democrats with ties to organised labour. Conservatives complain that the Bill offers an amnesty to illegal immigrants that could encourage more people to try to come to the US illegally.
Trade unions worry that the temporary worker programme will depress wages and create a new underclass of low-paid workers with few rights while Hispanic groups and some churches oppose the downgrading of family ties as a criterion for legal immigration.
"Listen, the immigration debate is a tough debate," Mr Bush said yesterday. "I'm under no illusions about how hard it is. There are people in my party that don't want a comprehensive Bill; there are people in the Democrat Party that don't seem to want a comprehensive Bill. I was disappointed that the Bill was temporarily derailed."
Supporters and opponents of the reform plan agree that, if the Bill is not revived within the next few weeks, it will be almost impossible to pass immigration legislation later, as the 2008 elections approach. Mr Bush, who has made immigration reform his domestic policy priority in recent months, said he would impress on senators during his meetings today the urgency of swift action to repair the "grand bargain" that collapsed last week.
"I'm going to work with those who are focused on getting an immigration Bill done and start taking some steps forward again. I believe we can get it done," Mr Bush said.