Senate votes down GOP border amendment to immigration bill; Dems say would delay citizenship
Posted Jun 13, 2013 10:44:59 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
WASHINGTON – The Senate has voted to kill a GOP measure preventing immigrants here illegally from taking the first steps toward citizenship until the U.S.-Mexico border has been under control for six months.
The vote was 57 to 43 to defeat the measure offered by Sen. Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican. It was the first amendment voted on regarding the far-reaching legislation that would remake the U.S. immigration system and open the door to citizenship for millions.
Supporters of the bill said Grassley’s amendment would delay, possibly for years, the path to citizenship that’s at the centre of the bill.
Grassley said it was needed to ensure that the bill makes good on its promise of enacting real border security.
