Senate measure to overhaul immigration laws collapses

As I had predicted months ago, immigration reform would be difficult if not impossible given the balance of power in the Senate and the many different interests impacted by such legislation. Part of the problem is that conservatives want to stand for strong borders, but the business arm of the Republican party knows what kind of trouble it would be in without the cheap labor that exploitable immigrants provide.

WASHINGTON — A fragile compromise to overhaul the nation's immigration laws collapsed Thursday night when senators from both parties refused to move to a final vote, handing the unlikely alliance of Democratic leaders and President Bush a setback on a major domestic priority.