US Senate Approves Immigration Reform Bill -Thursday June 27,2013

The US Senate, after a decade of trying and failing, has passed a wide-ranging immigration bill that would put 11 million foreigners now living illegally in the United States on a path to American citizenship.

Separate bills designed by House Republicans include stricter border and interior security measures, employment checks and most significantly, no path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants

• The legislation's chief provisions include numerous steps to prevent future illegal immigration and to check the legal status of job applicants already living in the US.

• The measure also requires 20,000 new Border Patrol agents, the completion of 1,226km of fencing and the deployment of an array of high-tech devices along the US-Mexico border.

• Other provisions would expand the number of visas available for highly skilled workers relied upon by the technology industry.

• A separate program would be established for lower-skilled workers, and farm workers would be admitted under a temporary program.

• In addition, the system of legal immigration that has been in effect for decades would be changed, making family ties less of a factor and elevating the importance of education, job skills and relative youth.

The Senate voted 68-32 for the bill(with 14 Republicans who voted for the bill) giving more than two-thirds support in the 100-member chamber.

But it faces strong opposition in the House of Representatives, where many Republicans oppose giving legal status and eventual citizenship to the 11 million.
House Speaker John Boehner has said he will not advance legislation that lacks support of most of his fellow Republicans, who remain resistant.

Vice President Joe Biden presided, and senators cast their votes from their desks, both steps reserved for momentous votes.The bill, a priority for President Barack Obama, would amount to the most sweeping changes in decades to the nation's immigration laws