US: As the United States assesses the political and economic impact of Monday's massive immigration protests, Republican and Democratic Senate leaders have promised to intensify efforts to reach agreement on immigration reform.
Republican Senate majority leader Bill Frist said there was a pressing need to deal with the estimated 11-12 million illegal immigrants in a "fair and compassionate way" but "short of amnesty". He said any Bill that would emerge from the Senate later this month would put "border security first and foremost" along with a "strong interior enforcement programme".
Democratic Senate minority leader Harry Reid said Monday's "peaceful, dignified rallies" underscored the need for Congress to approve a comprehensive immigration Bill that regularised the status of most illegal immigrants.
"We must have a cohesive, co-ordinated effort to strengthen border security, create legal mechanisms for American companies to hire essential temporary employees and encourage the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States to come out of the shadows. We need to know who these people are and make sure they are productive, law-abiding, tax-paying members of the community," he told the Senate yesterday.
In an important concession, Mr Reid said Democrats were willing to debate up to 20 amendments to the Bill and would consider Republican proposals on the composition of the Senate delegation that would negotiate a final compromise Bill with the House of Representatives.
An immigration Bill that had the support of most senators faltered on the Senate floor before Easter after Mr Reid insisted that only six amendments should be debated and that the full Senate judiciary committee should negotiate the final compromise with the house.
Although Mr Reid said he was willing to compromise, he insisted that the composition of the negotiating team must be agreed before a Senate Bill is passed. "With Republicans in the house having passed a Bill making all undocumented immigrants felons, with the house majority leader publicly dismissing the Senate's Bill and with the house judiciary committee chairman serving as the sponsor of the felon provision in the house legislation, it is imperative we have a firm agreement on who the conference participants will be before moving to the Bill."
Police and immigrant groups agreed that more than a million people demonstrated across the US on Monday in protest against the house Bill, although some estimates were higher. At least 400,000 people took part in two marches in Los Angeles and at least 300,000 demonstrated in Chicago, but crowds were much smaller elsewhere, notably in New York and Washington.
Business groups said the economic impact of a boycott of workplaces and shops was limited by the fact that many firms likely to be hardest hit decided in advance to close for the day.
In the landscaping industry, which employs an overwhelmingly immigrant workforce, nine out of 10 workers stayed at home on Monday, according to the American Nursery and Landscape Association.
Building sites and food processing plants also suffered disruption and agriculture was badly affected in Florida and California. McDonald's said it closed some restaurants and limited service and opening hours in others. Protest organisers said the protests would have been even bigger if immigrant groups had agreed on tactics in advance. Some groups, including the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform (ILIR), opposed the boycott as counterproductive.
In fact, the ILIR's website on Monday encouraged supporters to "let their fingers do the marching" by phoning congressmen to lobby for immigration reform.