See previous: 2006.06.04-05 "No Illegal Left Behind" Roundup

Illegals bill hits Senate roadblock 
By Stephen Dinan

The immigration deal foundered yesterday, on the verge of collapse under its own weight just days after it appeared to have a clear path to pass the Senate.

By late in the afternoon, Republicans were accusing Democrats of trying to "stuff" them, and Democrats said Republicans were trying to kill the bill by obstructing the process. Both sides were saying they don't know whether the process can be put back on track.

A showdown is scheduled for tomorrow, when Democrats said they will force a vote to set a time limit on the bill, and Republicans have promised to block that move through a filibuster. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said that if Republicans block his effort to limit debate, it would bump the bill off the schedule and likely derail it for the rest of the year.  ...

And if it doesn't get passed this year there's no way it's going to get past both houses next year with everyone focused on the November elections. There's still hope, people. There's still hope.

Below the fold:

• Sen. Sessions Releases List of 20 Loopholes in the Senate Immigration Bill
• Video: Harry Reid said what?; "12 million undocumented Americans"

See also:

• The Wrong Side of the Immigration Story
• Shamnesty on the Senate floor, Day 2, Take 2 ...
• The Republicans’ Hispanic Delusion
  Heather Mac Donald: Amnesty is not just wrong in principle, it’s bad politics.
• The Republican Willie Horton
• Bush shocked to find his supporters don’t like having their motives impugned
• Republicans Threaten Filibuster As Immigration Compromise Stumbles
• Shamnesty on the Senate floor, Day 2 ...
• What’s Not In The CBO Estimates Of Immigration Bill
• Reid Will Shelve the Immigration Bill if Thursday's Cloture Vote Fails
• Reid Says He Will Seek to End Debate on Immigration Bill
• Foundations bankrolling advocates for aliens

Sen. Sessions Releases List of 20
Loopholes in the Senate Immigration Bill

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) released a list of 20 loopholes in the comprehensive immigration bill today which reveals that the bill is fatally flawed and will not establish a functioning immigration system in the future.

The list of loopholes includes flaws effecting border security, chain-migration and assimilation policies.  The list exposes the lack of serious attention given to ensuring that the legislation fixes America’s failed immigration system. 

“I am deeply concerned about the numerous loopholes we have found in this legislation.  They are more than technical errors, but rather symptoms of a fundamentally flawed piece of legislation that stands no chance of actually fixing our broken immigration system,” Sessions said.  “Many of the loopholes are indicative of a desire not to have the system work.”

For example, one loophole in the “enforcement trigger” fails to require the U.S. VISIT system – the biometric border check-in/check-out system established by Congress in 1996, but never implemented – to be fully functioning before new worker or amnesty programs begin.  Without the system in place, the U.S. has no method of ensuring that workers and their families do not overstay their visas. ...

Read the whole thing. H/T: Kim Priestap

Video: Harry Reid said what?
"12 million undocumented Americans"
Michelle Malkin

The concept of American citizenship is dead. Sen. Harry Reid drove the final nail in the coffin with his floor statement yesterday, in which he referred to the 12 million illegal aliens currently in the U.S. as "12 million undocumented Americans." I've heard a lot of stupid euphemisms for illegal aliens, but that one takes the cake.

Watch the video, currently featured front and center on Reid's website.

And here's the transcript in black and white, posted on the Democrats.Senate.Gov page: ...