A far-reaching bill to remake the US immigration system is headed to the full Senate, where tough battles are brewing on gay marriage, border security and other contentious issues, with the outcome impossible to predict.

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the measure 13-5 on Tuesday night, setting up an epic showdown on the Senate floor after Congress' Memorial Day holiday recess. The legislation is one of US President Barack Obama's top domestic priorities, yet it also gives the Republican Party a chance to recast itself as more appealing to minorities.

Many Republicans have embraced the idea of immigration reform after nearly 70 percent of Hispanic voters supported Obama in last year's election, leading to concerns that the party was out of touch with a younger, more diverse country.

Many involved still vividly recall the last time the Senate took up a major immigration bill, in 2007, beginning with high hopes only to see their efforts collapse on the Senate floor amid a public backlash and interest group defections.

Some expressed optimism for a better outcome this time around as the Judiciary Committee gave its bipartisan approval. Three Republicans joined the 10 committee Democrats in supporting the measure.

"We've demonstrated to the United States Senate we can all work together, Republicans and Democrats," said the panel's chairman, Senator Patrick Leahy. "Now let's go out of this room and work together with the other members of the Senate, and with the other body (the House of Representatives), and more importantly work with all Americans, and all those who wish to be Americans."

New routes

The legislation would create new routes for people to go legally to the US to work at all skill levels, tighten border security and workplace enforcement, and offer a chance at citizenship to the 11 million people in the US illegally.

The vote followed the committee's decision to embrace a Republican move to ease restrictions on high-tech US companies that want to hire more skilled workers from countries such as India and China.

In a dramatic move before the vote, Leahy, a Democrat from Vermont, withdrew an amendment to give people the right to sponsor same-sex partners who are foreigners for permanent legal status.

Leahy's colleagues on the committee - Republicans and Democrats - warned that the amendment would kill the legislation in Congress. Democrats generally favor providing equal treatment for heterosexual and homosexual couples, while many Republicans oppose doing so.

"I'm committed to ending that discrimination," Leahy said before withdrawing the amendment.

"Democrats should be ashamed of themselves for not defending LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) families against the scapegoating of their Republican colleagues," said Rachel Tiven, executive director of Immigration Equality, a gay rights group.

Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah said the changes made to visa rules governing high-skilled workers, which he had demanded on behalf of the US technology industry, were the price of his support for the bill when the committee voted. Hatch voted for the bill.

AP-Xinhua-Reuters

(China Daily 05/23/2013 page11)