In what was considered a key test vote, a bipartisan overhaul of U.S. immigration policy passed 67-27 in the Senate. The bill, which adds an estimated $46 billion to border security costs and puts approximately 11 million illegal immigrants on the 13-year path to citizenship, would be the first major policy change since 1986.
The vote was only an agreement to close debate on the bill in order to proceed to voting, writes CNN.com. It received 15 Republican supporters to bring it past the necessary 60 votes, most of whom were in favor of the additional 700 miles of fence, 20,000 border agents, and $3.2 billion in technology it funds.
Those aspects were part of the compromise of the bipartisan writers, known as the Gang of Eight; Democrats favor the citizenship path, while members of both parties criticize various parts of the bill, Reuters.com reports. One of the main Republican criticisms is that it will fail in the House, and a similar proposal was rejected just last week. But as one of the authors, Republican Senator John Hoeven of North Dakota, says, "We have tried to come up with something that is bipartisan so that it can move in the House. Hopefully [the amendment] will encourage them to move forward.”