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Reid may revive immigration reform bill

A complicated proposal for overhauling the nation's immigration laws could be coming back for another try in the Senate next week.
/ Source: The Associated Press

A complicated proposal for overhauling the nation's immigration laws could be coming back for another try in the Senate next week.

Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., filed a motion Wednesday night aimed at defeating a filibuster. His action is a first step toward reviving the bill.

Broadly, the measure would tighten the nation's borders, set up a guest worker program, clamp restrictions on employers and legalize millions of undocumented people already in the U.S.

The plan to resurrect the bill would allow opponents to offer a limited number of amendments. One has already set up a confrontation with the White House. The bipartisan proposal by Sens. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Barack Obama, D-Ill., would drop the requirement for employers to verify the legality of all their workers. Instead they'd have to check only new hires and those deemed a risk.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff says that change could seriously hurt enforcement.