Zilele Zalaului la Chicago, 2007 (editia a IV-a)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Senate is expected to vote this morning on a delicately crafted immigration reform bill that survived a day of legislative wrangling on Wednesday that one lawmaker likened to "trench warfare."

One senator predicted the vote would be "a cliffhanger."

The bill provides a path to citizenship for some of the 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. and toughens border security.

The Senate will first vote to cut off debate and refer the bill for a final vote. The cloture vote requires a three-fifths majority, or 60 votes.

The final vote needs only a simple majority -- or 51 votes -- to pass.

"I think it's razor-thin," said Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Alabama, an opponent to the bill. "There were 64 votes to proceed to this bill. A number of people I'm confident voted to proceed to it to allow the debate to go forward. But I don't know that they will be voting for cloture."

Supporters beat back a number of potentially fatal amendments on Wednesday and will face more of the 27 amendments senators agreed to before starting debate.

Proponents won a major victory with defeat of an amendment removing the bill's most controversial feature -- a path to legalization and eventual citizenship for illegal immigrants already in the country, which critics charge amounts to amnesty. (Watch challenges rise and fall )

"I think most people will recognize that citizenship is the most precious gift America can provide," said Sen. Kit Bond, R-Missouri, the sponsor of the amendment. "There are many of us who believe it should not serve as a reward to those who broke the law."

Senators voted 56-41 to table his amendment, effectively killing it. However, in a sharp illustration of the political heartburn the "amnesty" debate is causing Republicans, Bond's proposal was supported by 33 of the Senate's 49 GOP members, along with eight Democrats.

Also defeated Wednesday was an amendment by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, that would have required adult illegal immigrants to return to their home country within two years in order to apply for a new type of visa that will allow them to stay in the United States indefinitely.

Hutchison said the change would "send the major message ... that you cannot come to our country and stay illegally and eventually get regularized without ever having to apply -- according to the law -- from your home country."

But opponents of the amendment said the so-called "touchback" requirement would render the program largely useless.

"What immigrant is going to show up and register for a program if he has to take his chances on leaving the country and coming back in before he gets some kind of immigration status?" said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California. "What immigrant is going to report to deport?"

In the end, the Hutchison amendment was tabled on a 53-45 vote.

Senators also turned back two Democratic amendments, from Sens. Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Robert Menendez of New Jersey, that would have made it easier for immigrants to bring family members from their home countries to the United States.

Liberal critics of the immigration bill have complained about a new points-based system that would sharply reduce the role family ties now play in decisions about who can come into the country.

By a 79-18 vote, senators shot down an amendment by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Virginia, that would have limited the legalization process to illegal immigrants who have been in the country at least four years, rather than covering all of them in the country at the end of 2006.

Wednesday's wrangling on the Senate floor was conducted under seldom-used rules designed to keep opponents of the immigration reform bill from using the legislative process to block it.

All of the changes were being handled as one overall amendment, with separate votes on each proposal, allowing leaders to keep critics of the bill from offering their own amendments from the floor.

Republican opponents have strongly objected to the procedure, even though it was agreed to by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky.

"[We're] frustrated about our ability to exercise our rights as duly elected officials," said Sen. David Vitter, R-Louisiana.

The Senate could vote as soon as Thursday on a procedural motion to cut off debate and move to a final vote, which requires 60 votes to pass.

18 persoane (mai multi cetateni americani si cativa est-europeni, dintre care si 2 romani) au fost arestate la Chicago, si vor fi judecate pentru 17 capete de acuzare pentru implicarea in organizarea de casatorii de convenienta pentru obtinerea de green card-uri. Daca vor fi gasiti vinovati, fiecare cap de acuzare poate duce la un maximum de 5 ani de inchisoare si $250,000 amenda.

"Legea Imigrarii" sustinuta la Washington, intr-o forma favorabila celor aproximativ 12.000.000 de imigranti din SUA, este acum sub asediu din toate partile

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Senate Tuesday could debate and vote on two Democratic amendments that would dramatically alter the bipartisan legislation announced last week.

The bill is the result of a deal struck after nearly three months of bipartisan talks and endorsed by the White House last week. It would offer the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants now in the United States a path to citizenship, boost border controls and establish a guest-worker program that would grant two-year residency for up to 400,000 people. (Interactive:Immigration bill at a glance)

North Dakota Democrat Sen. Byron Dorgan's amendment would eliminate the guest worker program entirely. The amendment offered by Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-New Mexico, would cut the program in half.

Many Democrats don't like the program because they think it drives down wages for American workers and creates a permanent underclass of immigrant workers. (Watch how the bill is already being blasted from all sides )

Republicans generally favor a strong guest worker program because businesses say they need the labor.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, one of the negotiators who crafted the agreement, said he is concerned about both amendments passing but especially Bingaman's because a similar amendment passed last year with 79 votes.

Graham said passage of the amendment "would throw things out of kilter but not completely off track."

No word yet what Republicans will offer as an amendment but Sen. James Inhofe, R-Oklahoma, said Monday he's hoping it will be his proposal to make English the official language of the U.S.

Key bill negotiators are to huddle privately before floor action begins to determine how they'll vote on the various amendments. They say they'll do this each day to ensure they can preserve the "grand bargain" they forged.

The bill survived its first hurdle Monday evening, a 69-23 procedural vote that brought the measure to the Senate floor. Opponents argued the 380-page bill needed closer scrutiny before coming before the chamber, but they fell short of the 41 votes needed to keep it off the floor.

After saying they wanted to act on the bill before the Memorial Day holiday, Senate leaders set aside two weeks for debate, with a week-long break for Memorial Day in between.

Some lawmakers complained they have not yet finished reading the 380-page bill, which was distributed over the weekend.

"Why are we in the midst of this rush to judgment, this rush to pass this bill?" asked Sen. David Vitter, R-Louisiana. "I believe there's a very simple political answer, and it is that if the American people fully understood what is buried in this bill, there would be a massive outcry against it."

Vitter complained that the legislation was coming to the floor without review by Senate committees or an analysis of its financial impact by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. And Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Alabama, said the bill "needs some time to be disinfected by the light of day."

But one of the bill's architects, Massachusetts Democrat Edward Kennedy, called the plan "strong, realistic and fair."

"It provides tough new enforcement at the border and the work site," Kennedy said. "It allows a realistic path to family security and eventual citizenship for millions of men, women and children already here. And it provides a new system for allocating visas in the future that stresses family reunion and national economic needs."

The measure would grant immediate work authorization to undocumented workers who arrived in the United States before January 1, 2007. Heads of households would have to return to their home countries within eight years, with a guaranteed the right to return, and applicants would also have to pay a $5,000 penalty.

Kennedy said to qualify for legal status, undocumented workers have to work, pay taxes, learn English and "get in line for their green cards" behind people who have already applied legally.

It would also give the Department of Homeland Security new tools to crack down on employers who hire illegal immigrants and double the size of the Border Patrol by adding 14,000 new agents.

The bill has drawn fire from conservative critics, who blasted it as "amnesty" for undocumented workers; and from liberals, who say it unfairly limits opportunities for unskilled workers and would split families.

"Instead of punishing these people, a few senators and the administration have crafted a large-scale get-out-of-jail-free pass," said Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Kentucky.

Graham challenged critics to "do more than just shout amnesty."

"This debate is about the future of the United States, when it comes to our national security, our employment needs, our ability to compete with the world for the labor force that exists," he said. "And at the heart of this debate, it's about who we are as a people."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the bill is "not perfect," and warned that as written, it could end up creating a "permanent underclass" of guest workers. But he said the measure can be amended during debate.

"I think we can all agree that the spirit of bipartisanship behind it is encouraging. We'll continue along that road in the coming days," said Reid, D-Nevada.

But one of the bill's supporters, Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Arlen Specter, said its advocates represent "a very fragile coalition." If the fundamental elements of the proposal are changed, "We're going to run the risk of losing senators," he said.

President Bush backed the measure last week, telling reporters it would treat immigrants "without amnesty but without animosity." A former Texas governor, Bush has long sought to overhaul American immigration policies and successfully courted Latino support during his political career. (Watch Bush administration defend bill and Democrats express doubts )

A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll taken in early May found 80 percent support for creating a path for illegal immigrants to seek U.S. citizenship, provided they had a job and paid back taxes. But respondents were closely split on the idea of a guest-worker program, with 48 percent supporting the concept and 50 percent opposed.