US:Supporters of a sweeping overhaul of the United States' immigration laws that failed a crucial Senate vote on Thursday night have promised to persevere in trying to pass the proposed legislation this summer.
"We are not giving up," Senator Edward Kennedy said yesterday after Senate majority leader Harry Reid pulled the immigration Bill when a vote to limit debate on it failed to win even a simple majority.
Mr Reid blamed Republicans for the collapse of a "grand bargain" between members of both parties that would have allowed most of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants now in the US to remain in the country and eventually apply for citizenship.
Republicans had been agitating all week for more time to consider amendments but Mr Reid decided that it was time to vote on the measure.
"This has been a very difficult time. I think there has been a lot of bending over backwards to accommodate those who wanted to offer amendments. We really tried every possible way," he said.
Senate minority leader Republican Mitch McConnell blamed Mr Reid for cutting short the debate and Arlen Specter - one of the Republicans who helped to negotiate the compromise - said he believed his party colleagues would agree a finite list of amendments within the next few weeks.
"I think when we return, we will have that list. And I think we can then formulate the specifics on how to get the job done," Mr Specter said.
South Carolina's Lindsey Graham, another Republican member of the bipartisan group supporting the Bill, said that it could return to the Senate very soon.
"The burden is on the Republicans now to come up with a definable list that would be seen as a fair process . . . Once that's done, the burden is on my Democratic leadership colleagues to do what they said they'd do last night, and that's reschedule this Bill," he said.
Despite the upbeat statements of its supporters, the immigration Bill's withdrawal from the Senate floor is a serious setback and represents a humiliating blow to the president, who has invested a great deal of political capital in promoting it. His failure to persuade Senate Republicans to back the Bill augurs badly for its prospects in the House of Representatives, where at least 40 Republican votes could be needed to ensure its passage.
The loudest opposition to the immigration plan came from conservative Republicans, who complained that illegal immigrants were being offered an amnesty that would encourage others to enter the US illegally in the hope of receiving the same treatment.
Some liberal Democrats were also unhappy, however, with the Bill's temporary worker programme and a new points system for future immigrants that would favour applicants with skills and educational qualifications over those with family ties in the US.
Although a recent opinion poll showed that three out of four Americans want to allow undocumented immigrants already in the US to regularise their status and embark on a path to citizenship, opponents of reform are generally more passionate than its advocates. At a Republican presidential debate in New Hampshire this week, almost all the candidates condemned the reform plan, leaving John McCain isolated as he pleaded its merits.
Failure to reform the US immigration system could expose both parties to criticism from voters, most of whom agree that the current system is not working. As the Bill's supporters tried to regroup after Thursday night's setback, Mr Reid appeared to be rehearsing his position in the blame game that could follow if the Bill cannot be revived.
"This is the president's Bill and we are doing our very best to see if we can help the president," he said.