(Washington Times) Senators fended off changes to the immigration bill in committee on Tuesday, but the first cracks emerged in the carefully crafted compromise between business groups and labor unions, leaving even some supporters frustrated at the defensive votes they had to cast.
The second day of voting in the Senate Judiciary Committee underscored the fragile nature of the immigration compromise — but also the power of the "Gang of Eight," the bipartisan group that drafted the compromise and has defended it against changes from the right and left.
On Tuesday, the gang wrangled enough votes to stop one amendment that would have allowed the government to conduct audits to make sure a temporary high-tech visa program wasn't being used to displace American workers from their jobs, and also halted a proposal that would have required biometric identifiers from every visitor upon entry or exit in the U.S.