By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent

Two political parties, two rival plans to deal with the nation's burgeoning illegal immigrant population.
And barring a breakthrough, no guarantee that either of them can pass a Senate riven by election-year partisanship.

"This is a vote that for millions of Americans is a question about whose side you're on," Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois said Wednesday in advance of a test vote on legislation offering legal status and eventual citizenship to many of the 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States.

Democrats, led by Sen. Harry Reid (news, bio, voting record) of Nevada, needed 60 votes to advance the measure. They seemed unlikely to prevail, especially since one-time Republican allies melted away to support a GOP alternative instead.

Senate racing for solution on guest workers

Mike Madden
Republic Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - The Senate is heading for a showdown over immigration on Thursday, after Democrats stalled debate Tuesday and set the clock ticking toward a crucial vote.

Searching for a compromise proposal that would bridge a divide in the Republican ranks, key GOP members spent hours negotiating behind closed doors but didn't settle on anything by the end of the day.

At issue is a bill passed last week by the Senate Judiciary Committee that would beef up border security, allow an estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants to earn legal status and let 400,000 foreigners come to the United States every year for work.

By SUZANNE GAMBOA, Associated Press Writer

Conservative Republicans tweaked their alternative to a bipartisan guest worker proposal for illegal immigrants Wednesday as Democrats pressed for a vote that would put most of those in the U.S. illegally on a path to citizenship. President Bush urged swift action.
The latest counterproposal to a bill by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., would base the chance of citizenship for the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. largely on whether or not they were here before a cutoff date. That date has not yet been determined.

Those in the U.S. before the cutoff date, an overwhelming majority, could apply for green cards if they pay fines and back taxes and learn English. Among that group, those who had spent five years in the U.S. would get an easier path to citizenship, with newer arrivals facing more obstacles.

Those who arrived illegally after the cutoff date would be viewed as living here illegally and unlikely to qualify for citizenship while in the country.

By Amanda Paulson, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

Jorge Santos has dreamed for years of becoming a US citizen - like his wife, son, and stepdaughter. He speaks English well, owns a home, and finished fine furniture for a living - until a deportation a few years ago flagged the fact that he was using a false Social Security number.
He's back in the US now, watching Washington wrangle over immigration - especially what to do about those already here illegally. Under the US House bill, he'd become a felon; a Senate bill offers a path to US citizenship, but Mr. Santos doubts he'd be eligible. His earlier run-in with immigration law may disqualify him.

Though many immigrants prefer the Senate's more open-armed bill, it can't yet answer their most urgent question: Who'd get to stay and who'd be sent home? How senators would resolve Santos's case, and others with similar complications, may be what determines whether most undocumented immigrants living and working in the US step forward to be counted - a major goal of the legislation - or remain in the shadows.