In the face of enormous opposition from both sides of the aisle, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid opted to drop the agricultural amnesty from the Iraq Supplemental Spending Bill.
Reid decided to drop language, submitted by Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Larry Craig, that would have given a path to citizenship for 1.3 million illegal agricultural workers, as well as their families.
Our NumbersUSA Capitol Hill Team learned late Wednesday through both Democratic and Republican sources that Sen. Feinstein (D-Calif.) was preparing to add an agricultural amnesty to the Iraq bill Thursday in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
"'For 18 years, I only spoke to my daughter by telephone,' Clara Rivas, 72, said in Spanish. 'Now I want to go home...'" http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/19/AR2007031901906.html
The Washington Post, March 20, 2007
"A series of immigration raids in the town of Firebaugh have residents there concerned ... Immigration officers have arrested hundreds and they have created a sense of panic in farming communities. Even U.S. residents often have relatives or friends who are here illegally..." http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=news/local&id=5245535
ABC30.com (Calif.); April 27, 2007
"[S]tarting at 6 a.m. Wednesday, two days after the Board of Aldermen overwhelmingly approved the identity card plan, federal agents swept into the largely Hispanic Fair Haven community and arrested some 31 people suspected of being illegal immigrants, many in their homes. Within hours, any sense of sanctuary that the city and advocates for immigrants advocates had developed over the years was turned upside down, replaced with fear..." http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/08/nyregion/08haven.html