Immigration deal on the horizon?

The Hill shines light on the possibility of a deal on an immigration bill in the Senate. From the article:

The Senate’s bipartisan immigration talks yesterday yielded the first stirrings of a “grand bargain,” but the fate of the compromise remained uncertain amid political pressure from interest groups and a potential filibuster.

Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.), the Judiciary Committee’s ranking Republican and leader of recent negotiations on immigration reform, took the floor to announce the progress and ask Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) for more time before the next week’s floor deadline.

“We have come to an agreement on what we have called a ‘grand bargain,’ which is the outline of an immigration bill,” Specter said.

Sanctions for employers who hire illegal immigrants, thousands of new Border Patrol agents and a trigger mechanism to tackle border security are all under consideration, Specter said. But he warned that Reid’s plans to call up last year’s
Senate-passed immigration bill — which has lost significant support — as a placeholder could bring the process to a halt.

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