Senate approves immigration overhaul, focus shifts to House

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Fox News:

The Senate on Thursday approved a sweeping immigration overhaul that would extend legal status to millions of undocumented immigrants while increasing border security, sending the bill to the House side where it faces a chilly reception.

The vote caps weeks of bipartisan negotiations and hands President Obama, who has made immigration legislation the cornerstone of his second-term agenda, a partial victory.

The Senate voted 68-32 to approve the bill, following a series of test votes that already demonstrated the legislation had enough support to pass.

The question is whether the Senate vote can compel the Republican-led House to follow suit. Though 68 votes is a strong majority, backers fell short of the 70 votes they were hoping to secure, a number they felt would help persuade House leaders to move forward. Some Republicans have already declared the Senate bill "dead on arrival" in the House, but House lawmakers are nevertheless working on their own piecemeal version of immigration legislation.

House Speaker John Boehner, who says both chambers should act on immigration, declined to say Thursday how his caucus would proceed.

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