Senate passes Immigration bill, showdown with House

So the Senate passed their version of immigration reform today 62-36, with 2 abstentions. The major provisions if you are an undocumented immigrant who has been in the country for:

5 years or more: you can stay and start your path to citizenship (not sure how they would prove this since you are undocumented.)

The nearly 7 million who've been in the United States five years or longer would be allowed to stay. They could become permanent legal residents in six years and U.S. citizens five years later by paying $3,250 in fees, learning English, paying back taxes and passing background checks.

2-5 years: you get "deferred mandatory departure" - kinda sounds as innocuous as "special registration" but you get to stay and work for another 3 years. Then you have to leave, and you can return as a guestworker, and apply for citizenship.

under 2 years: you have to go back to your country of origin.

Pros:
-Dream Act provision
-Ag Jobs provision

Cons:
-370 mile fence between US and Mexico
-Declaration of English as national language
-national ID-type requirements for employers to verify status
-loss of judicial review
-Enforcement would occur under Bush (who still has 2.5 years left in office)

Undecided:
-Lifting quotas for nurses to come to the US. On one hand this really helps bring our Filipino sisters to the States. On the other hand, the nurse shortage in the Philippines has been a huge drain on their healthcare system.

Conclusion: Still don't think we should endorse or pass a bill with such atrocious language on enforcement. We should wait until Dems own the House and then pass positive, proactive and hopeful legislation.

Roll Call by State:

Alabama:	Sessions (R-AL), Nay	Shelby (R-AL), Nay
Alaska:	Murkowski (R-AK), Yea	Stevens (R-AK), Yea
Arizona:	Kyl (R-AZ), Nay	McCain (R-AZ), Yea
Arkansas:	Lincoln (D-AR), Yea	Pryor (D-AR), Yea
California:	Boxer (D-CA), Yea	Feinstein (D-CA), Yea
Colorado:	Allard (R-CO), Nay	Salazar (D-CO), Not Voting
Connecticut:	Dodd (D-CT), Yea	Lieberman (D-CT), Yea
Delaware:	Biden (D-DE), Yea	Carper (D-DE), Yea
Florida:	Martinez (R-FL), Yea	Nelson (D-FL), Yea
Georgia:	Chambliss (R-GA), Nay	Isakson (R-GA), Nay
Hawaii:	Akaka (D-HI), Yea	Inouye (D-HI), Yea
Idaho:	Craig (R-ID), Yea	Crapo (R-ID), Nay
Illinois:	Durbin (D-IL), Yea	Obama (D-IL), Yea
Indiana:	Bayh (D-IN), Yea	Lugar (R-IN), Yea
Iowa:	Grassley (R-IA), Nay	Harkin (D-IA), Yea
Kansas:	Brownback (R-KS), Yea	Roberts (R-KS), Nay
Kentucky:	Bunning (R-KY), Nay	McConnell (R-KY), Yea
Louisiana:	Landrieu (D-LA), Yea	Vitter (R-LA), Nay
Maine:	Collins (R-ME), Yea	Snowe (R-ME), Yea
Maryland:	Mikulski (D-MD), Yea	Sarbanes (D-MD), Yea
Massachusetts:	Kennedy (D-MA), Yea	Kerry (D-MA), Yea
Michigan:	Levin (D-MI), Yea	Stabenow (D-MI), Nay
Minnesota:	Coleman (R-MN), Yea	Dayton (D-MN), Yea
Mississippi:	Cochran (R-MS), Nay	Lott (R-MS), Nay
Missouri:	Bond (R-MO), Nay	Talent (R-MO), Nay
Montana:	Baucus (D-MT), Yea	Burns (R-MT), Nay
Nebraska:	Hagel (R-NE), Yea	Nelson (D-NE), Nay
Nevada:	Ensign (R-NV), Nay	Reid (D-NV), Yea
New Hampshire:	Gregg (R-NH), Yea	Sununu (R-NH), Nay
New Jersey:	Lautenberg (D-NJ), Yea	Menendez (D-NJ), Yea
New Mexico:	Bingaman (D-NM), Yea	Domenici (R-NM), Yea
New York:	Clinton (D-NY), Yea	Schumer (D-NY), Yea
North Carolina:	Burr (R-NC), Nay	Dole (R-NC), Nay
North Dakota:	Conrad (D-ND), Yea	Dorgan (D-ND), Nay
Ohio:	DeWine (R-OH), Yea	Voinovich (R-OH), Yea
Oklahoma:	Coburn (R-OK), Nay	Inhofe (R-OK), Nay
Oregon:	Smith (R-OR), Yea	Wyden (D-OR), Yea
Pennsylvania:	Santorum (R-PA), Nay	Specter (R-PA), Yea
Rhode Island:	Chafee (R-RI), Yea	Reed (D-RI), Yea
South Carolina:	DeMint (R-SC), Nay	Graham (R-SC), Yea
South Dakota:	Johnson (D-SD), Yea	Thune (R-SD), Nay
Tennessee:	Alexander (R-TN), Nay	Frist (R-TN), Yea
Texas:	Cornyn (R-TX), Nay	Hutchison (R-TX), Nay
Utah:	Bennett (R-UT), Yea	Hatch (R-UT), Nay
Vermont:	Jeffords (I-VT), Yea	Leahy (D-VT), Yea
Virginia:	Allen (R-VA), Nay	Warner (R-VA), Yea
Washington:	Cantwell (D-WA), Yea	Murray (D-WA), Yea
West Virginia:	Byrd (D-WV), Nay	Rockefeller (D-WV), Not Voting
Wisconsin:	Feingold (D-WI), Yea	Kohl (D-WI), Yea
Wyoming:	Enzi (R-WY), Nay	Thomas (R-WY), Nay

What caught my eye:
Lieberman voted yes, as did both Florida senators. Craig (R-Idaho) voted yes. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) voted yes. Not sure what those two are about. Ben Nelson (D-Nebraska) voted no. Gregg (R-New Hampshire voted yes.) Bill . . Frist a yes?!? Salazar not voting (not sure what that's about either.)