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The immigration bill that would offer a chance of citizenship to millions living in the US illegally has taken a stride forward in Congress.
A Senate panel voted 13-5 to back the measure, after a plan to allow people to sponsor same-s** partners for permanent legal status was withdrawn.
The full Senate will now debate the proposal next month.
The bill is widely seen as the biggest overhaul of US immigration policy in more than a quarter of a century.
But lawmakers’ last attempt at immigration reform was more recent – a bipartisan bill failed in the Senate in 2007.
After Tuesday evening’s vote, immigration activists who had crowded into the Senate judiciary committee room cheered.
In a statement, President Barack Obama congratulated the panel.
Barack Obama said the bill was “largely consistent with the principles of common sense reform I have proposed and meets the challenge of fixing our broken immigration system”.
The president added he was “hopeful” the amendment process would “lead to further improvements”.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said he would not block the measure from coming to the floor for a full debate, but did not say how he planned to vote.
Three Republicans joined all 10 Democrats on the committee in voting for the bill.
The immigration bill that would offer a chance of citizenship to millions living in the US illegally has taken a stride forward in Congress
Approval came after committee members agreed to a Republican move to ease visa restrictions on hiring skilled workers from countries such as China and India.
The Democratic chairman of the committee, Patrick Leahy, also withdrew an amendment that would have allowed people to sponsor same-sex partners, who are foreigners, for permanent legal status.
“I don’t want to be the senator who asks people to choose between the love of their life and the love of their country,” Senator Patrick Leahy said.
The bill’s supporters had asked him to remove the proposal in order to save the legislation.
“I believe in my heart of hearts that what you’re doing is the right and just thing,” Democrat Senator Richard Durbin said.
“But I believe this is the wrong moment, that this is the wrong bill.”
At the centre of the legislation is a provision that would allow the estimated 11 million people living in the US illegally to obtain “registered provisional immigrant status”, six months after the bill’s enactment if certain conditions are met.
That status is the beginning of a 13-year process that would one day allow immigrants to be eligible to apply for a green card.
The bill also includes provisions to strengthen border security along the US-Mexican border, using additional agents and drones.
The president of the powerful AFL-CIO union group, Rich Trumka, attacked the last-minute deal allowing an increase in the number visas for hi-tech specialists as “anti-worker”.
But he said organized labor would continue to support the larger bill.
In the other chamber of Congress, the House of Representatives, immigration legislation is due to receive a hearing in the judiciary committee on Wednesday.
The latest push for reform follows Barack Obama’s announcement last June that the US would allow young undocumented workers who immigrated as children to apply for two-year, renewable visas.
Republicans have increasingly embraced the idea of immigration reform after a large majority of Hispanic voters supported Barack Obama in last year’s election.
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In an interview with Spanish-language TV channel Telemundo, President Barack Obama has said US immigration deal could be achieved within six months.
Barack Obama said reform should pass in 2013 and he would put “everything” into securing a deal even sooner.
Obstacles to a deal were political rather than technical, Barack Obama added.
The comments come the day after Barack Obama backed comprehensive immigration reform, and after a group of senators unveiled a similar plan on Monday.
Correspondents say the focus on immigration reflects the growing influence of Hispanic voters.
“I can guarantee that I will put everything I have behind it,” Barack Obama told Telemundo, one of two Spanish-language networks he spoke to on Wednesday.
The president also said he would work with all politicians to achieve reform, including Florida Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican.
Barack Obama’s plan, unveiled at a secondary school in Las Vegas, Nevada on Tuesday, reflects a blueprint he rolled out in 2011.
But while he applauded the Senate effort – put together by a group of four Democrats and four Republicans – the president also warned that if Congress fails to take action on immigration, the White House would write legislation of its own and insist that lawmakers vote on it.
In an interview with Spanish-language TV channel Telemundo, President Barack Obama has said US immigration deal could be achieved within six months
Like the bipartisan plan, the president backed an overhaul of the existing legal immigration system, securing US borders, and offering a pathway to earned citizenship.
But the senators’ proposals would allow undocumented immigrants to start the process of becoming citizens only after US borders are deemed secure, a link that did not feature in the president’s plan.
In a second interview on Wednesday with Spanish-language channel Univision, Barack Obama appeared to diverge from the senators’ plan on that point.
“What we don’t want is to create some vague prospect in the future that somehow comprehensive immigration reform that includes a pathway to citizenship will happen, you know, manana,” the president said, using the Spanish word for “tomorrow”.
The so-called gang of eight have said they hope their blueprint could pass the Senate by summer.
Politicians in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives are reportedly working on their own immigration framework.
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President Barack Obama has rallied support for “common-sense, comprehensive” immigration reform.
Barack Obama made his case at a high school in Las Vegas, Nevada, a day after a bipartisan group of senators said the time was right for reform.
It partly mirrors the senators’ plan, including a path to citizenship for many of an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the US.
The move reflects the growing influence of Hispanic voters.
In his opening remarks, Barack Obama said: “The time has come for common sense, comprehensive immigration reform.”
He noted that many of the undocumented workers believed to be in the US were already “woven into the fabric of our lives”, and there were economic imperatives for reform.
Barack Obama’s case for an immigration revamp reflects a blueprint he rolled out in 2011, though that did not go far, to the disappointment of Latino voters.
The president did not unveil legislation, but championed the proposals outlined on Monday by a group of four Democratic and four Republican senators.
“The good news is that – for the first time in many years – Republicans and Democrats seem ready to tackle this problem together,” Barack Obama said, urging Congress to act.
President Barack Obama has rallied support for immigration reform
Like the bipartisan plan, Barack Obama also backed an overhaul of the existing legal immigration system and securing US borders.
His 2011 blueprint also focused on a path to permanent residency and eventual citizenship, as well as making it easier for businesses to verify the legal status of workers.
But he asked: “Do we have the resolve as a people, as a country, as a government?”
Barack Obama warned that immigration was a polarizing issue, even though he believed reform was “within our grasp”.
Under his previous proposal, Barack Obama required those in the US illegally to register with the government and pass a background check, as well as pay a series of fines and back taxes if necessary.
After eight years, individuals would be allowed to become legal permanent residents and could eventually become citizens five years later.
The process is similar to the path outlined by senators on Monday – paying taxes and passing background checks would allow undocumented immigrants to live and work in the US legally but not qualify for benefits.
Once immigrants are able to apply for permanent residency, they would do so behind everyone else who had already applied for a green card.
But the senators’ proposals would allow undocumented immigrants to start the process of becoming citizens only after US borders are deemed secure, a link that did not feature in the president’s plan.
At their news conference on Monday, the so-called gang of eight promoted their blueprint, which they hope could pass the Senate by summer.
While passage of such a bill is not assured in the Senate, it faces a tougher route in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
Many conservative lawmakers there denounce a path to legalization as an “amnesty” for lawbreakers.
But many Republicans recognize their party’s hard line on immigration has become a liability, after November’s election when the Democratic president won more than 70% of the Latino vote.
Arizona Senator John McCain, the former Republican presidential candidate who lost to Barack Obama in 2008, said on Monday: “The Republican Party is losing the support of our Hispanic citizens.
“And we realize that there are many issues on which we think we are in agreement with our Hispanic citizens, but this is a pre-eminent issue with those citizens.”
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