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LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
Congress is gearing up to push forward with immigration reform legislation. After a lull of several months, the Senate Judiciary Committee began markup on the Simpson Bill on February 22nd. Advocates for legal immigration having been lobbying hard to convince members of the Committee to vote to split the bill back into a legal immigration bill and an illegal immigration bill. Senator Spencer Abraham, a Republican from Michigan, has sponsored an amendment to the Bill which would do just this. The philosophy behind this move is that the strong political pressure to curtail illegal immigration will prevent adequate consideration of the legal immigration issues. By separating the bills, each issue will be reviewed on its own merits. The Committee is reported to be closely divided on the issue. 
On the first day of markup, Senator Simpson attempted to block a vote to split the bill by demanding that he be allowed to introduce amendments of his own. The amendments reportedly deal with a number of the employment immigration provisions in the bill. Simpson argued that once the bill is amended, there will be no need to split the bill. After Simpson introduced several amendments relating to illegal immigration, the committee adjourned without taking any action. Markup will continue on March 7th. Readers are strongly urged to contact the Senators on the Judiciary Committee to urge them to "split the bill." The Senators are as follows: Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Strom Thurmond (R-South Carolina), Alan Simpson (R-Wyoming), Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), Arlen Spector (R-Pennsylvania), Hank Brown (R-Colorado), Fred Thompson (R-Tennessee), Jon Kyl (R-Arizona), Mike DeWine (R-Ohio), Spencer Abraham (R-Michigan), Joseph Biden, Jr. (D-Delaware), Edward Kennedy (D-Massachusetts), Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), Howell Heflin (D-Alabama), Paul Simon (D-Illinois), Herb Kohl (D-Wisconsin), Dianne Feinstein (D-California) and Russell Feingold (D-Wisconsin). Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 to reach any of these Senator's offices. 
In the mean time, the Smith Immigration Bill in the House is getting closer to a vote by the entire body of the House of Representatives. The House leadership is reportedly growing closer to deciding to splitting that bill back into a legal and illegal immigration bills. Readers are also urged to contact their Congressional Representative to voice their support for splitting the bill. Representatives can also be reached at 202-224-3121.