WASHINGTON — A Senate committee voted Monday to create a path for some of the nation's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants to become citizens without first leaving the country, and to allow additional foreign workers to enter the United States temporarily under a program that also could lead to citizenship.
With its votes, the Judiciary Committee sided with advocates of liberalized immigration laws and moved the Senate closer to a contentious fight among GOP lawmakers. A large and vocal faction of Republicans -- in Congress and throughout the party -- believes that illegal immigrants are lawbreakers who should not be rewarded with citizenship and that a temporary worker program would only draw more illegal workers to the country.
The fight over proposals to tighten immigration laws, which have provoked massive demonstrations in Los Angeles and elsewhere, now moves to the Senate floor; debate is expected to begin this week.
The Senate is headed into "a difficult and visceral debate," said Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.).
In a sign of how difficult passing legislation could be, the Judiciary Committee approved its immigration package even though most of its Republican members were against it. The vote was 12 to 6, with all six dissenting votes coming from Republicans; four GOP senators sided with the panel's eight Democrats to support the measure.
Monday's vote marked a victory for immigrant advocates and for President Bush, who has urged Congress for two years to create a temporary worker program but has argued against allowing those immigrants to gain citizenship.
White House reaction was upbeat.
"We are pleased to see the Senate moving forward on legislation," spokesman Scott McClellan said in a statement. "The president believes comprehensive reform is needed if we are going to have a rational, orderly and secure immigration system.... It is a difficult issue that will require compromise and tough choices, but the important thing at this point is that the process is moving forward."
The Senate panel's bill differs significantly from an overhaul of immigration laws approved last year by the House, which focused on tightening security at the border and on toughening law enforcement and did not include a temporary worker plan, a proposal that is unacceptable to many House Republicans.
The Senate panel also voted to eliminate a proposal, contained in the House legislation, that would make being an illegal immigrant a felony, rather than a civil immigration offense as it is currently.
