The Senate Judiciary Committee is trying to finish debate on the immigration reform bill this week. But Democratic California Senator Dianne Feinstein is urging her colleagues to take their time. Jill Morrison reports from Capitol Hill.
Members of the committee still haven't reached the most contentious provisions in the bill - those dealing with the estimated 11-million illegal immigrants- of which California houses an estimated twenty-four percent. Feinstein plans to introduce an amendment that would drastically limit the latest proposed guest worker program, but at the same time she wants to keep California's agricultural industry thriving.
Feinstein: It would allow certain undocumented agricultural workers to legalize their immigration status in the United States with a path toward citizenship.
But only agricultural workers. And only 300,000 would be eligible per year as opposed any illegal immigrant without a criminal record. Feinstein is asking colleagues to resist pressure from Senate leadership to finish- and take their time and pass a quality bill. From Capitol Hill, Jill Morrison, KPBS News.