This immigration bill doesn’t have a shot in hell of passing……IMO.

By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Republicans and Democrats scrambled Thursday to salvage a fragile compromise that would legalize millions of unlawful immigrants after it suffered setbacks.

The measure, a top priority for President Bush that’s under attack from the right and left, faced a crucial test vote designed to measure senators’ appetite for the “grand bargain” between liberals and conservatives on immigration.

The legislation failed a similar hurdle earlier in the day, and Majority Leader Harry Reid (news, bio, voting record), D-Nev., threatened that if it failed again, “the bill’s over with.”

Republican negotiators were working to break an impasse on a proposal that would let employers continue to handpick the high’skilled workers they want to get green cards, rather than requiring workers to qualify through a new, government-run point system.

That change, sought by Sen. Maria Cantwell (news, bio, voting record), D-Wash., and Sen. John Cornyn (news, bio, voting record), R-Texas, with vigorous backing from the high-tech community, could upset the delicate balance underlying the contentious immigration measure.

The bill would tighten borders, institute a new system to prevent employers from hiring undocumented workers, and give many of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants a pathway to legal status. Conceived by an improbable coalition, it is exposing deep rifts within both parties and is loathed by most GOP conservatives.

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