Immigration deal survives early test - Yahoo! News

Immigration deal survives early test - Yahoo! News: " Immigration deal survives early test " By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS, Associated Press Writer 10 minutes ago WASHINGTON - The Senate turned back an early attack on the broad immigration overhaul Tuesday, defeating an effort by farm-state Democrats and keeping alive a temporary worker provision that could bring in as many as 600,000 foreign workers each year. Byron Dorgan (news, bio, voting record), D-N.D., to delete the program, that is one of the measure's key elements. The vote was the first big test for the improbable coalition that wrote the measure and is struggling to keep the fragile deal from unraveling under pressure from across the political spectrum. The bill still faces myriad assaults, including further Democratic attempts to limit or alter the temporary worker program, which would bring in foreign employees on two-year visas. The bill would also toughen border security, give quick legal status to the estimated 12 million immigrants in the country unlawfully and create a new workplace verification system to bar undocumented workers from getting jobs.