Senate Immigration Bill

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved its version of immigration reform, which stands in stark contrast to the House version, especially in terms of whether the U.S. should have a guest worker program. I think another one of the many aspects that will spark debate is that the House bill includes construction of a wall, whereas the Senate has a “virtual wall” consisting of technology, like unmanned drones.

It only received 4 of 10 Republican votes in the Judiciary committee, and was immediately attacked by several Republican Senators (see the NYT). In addition, Majority Leader Frist hasn’t yet said whether he would allow the bill to come up for a vote, or whether he would introduce his own bill, which has no guest worker program (e.g. see the Washington Post).

Frist wants to be president, and I assume he figures such a move would resonate with the conservative Republican base, but it’s a risky move.