On June 27, 2013, the Senate passed a comprehensive immigration reform bill to overhaul the U.S. immigration system and extend legal status to millions of undocumented immigrants, expand legal immigration, and increase border security. The Senate voted 68-32 in favor of final passage of S.744, the “Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013.” The bill received strong support in the Senate following weeks of amendments by the Senate Judiciary Committee and bipartisan negotiations in the Senate. The amended bill retains many of the significant provisions included within the original legislation, which was introduced on April 17, 2013, and summarized in our client alert on April 23, 2013. Despite receiving strong support in the Senate, the bill must still undergo approval by the Republican-led House, where it is expected to face much greater resistance. It is also possible that the House would introduce its own bill with different provisions, which would have to be reconciled with the Senate bill, if it were to pass the House.
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