We’ve compiled a list of the important articles about the immigration legislation currently being considered by the Senate. You don’t have to surf around the net — just click through this survey and read the ones that interest you.

1.  From the Evans-Novak Political Report we have Immigration bill hits a wall in the Senate:

The Senate became embroiled Tuesday afternoon in a debate over which amendments would be allowed votes on the immigration bill. The resulting squabble endangered the immigration reform bill and the fragile coalition that built it….

The clash that has led Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to file for cloture came after conservative opponents of the bill faulted the Republican leadership for abandoning them and acquiescing to Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), the bill’s main sponsor. The complaint among conservatives had been that Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was not doing enough to insist on votes for their amendments, but McConnell stood up to Reid in demanding time for more votes.

Reid responded by announcing that he would file for cloture and that just 20 amendments would receive votes….

Republican supporters of the bill — especially Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) — denounced Reid for showing bad faith….

Part of the problem with amendments has been that any change — no matter how mild — threatened to disrupt and possibly destroy the fragile coalition of senators that has come together behind the bill….

2.  US Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama issued a press release on Monday giving details about twenty dangerous loopholes in the current legislation. It is a thoughtful and very specific document, well worth the time to read:

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) released a list of 20 loopholes in the comprehensive immigration bill today which reveals that the bill is fatally flawed and will not establish a functioning immigration system in the future.

The list of loopholes includes flaws effecting border security, chain-migration and assimilation policies. The list exposes the lack of serious attention given to ensuring that the legislation fixes America’s failed immigration system.

“I am deeply concerned about the numerous loopholes we have found in this legislation. They are more than technical errors, but rather symptoms of a fundamentally flawed piece of legislation that stands no chance of actually fixing our broken immigration system,” Sessions said. “Many of the loopholes are indicative of a desire not to have the system work.”….

3.  Next we have this piece by Chris Strohm:

Ex-Border Patrol officers condemn immigration measure
June 4, 2007

Former Border Patrol chiefs and agents on Monday ripped the Senate’s immigration bill as being unrealistic and technologically unfeasible, and instead offered a six-part plan for increasing border security, removing illegal immigrants and overhauling the immigration system.

Members of the National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers variously called the Senate immigration bill “a slap in the face,” “a recipe for disaster,” “a bureaucratic shell game” and “the al-Qaida dream bill.” Kent Lundgren, the association’s chairman, said, “Our experience tells us that this bill is insultingly, unforgivingly bad.”

Hugh Brien, a former Border Patrol chief under President Reagan, added: “The current Senate bill … is a travesty in my opinion. It’s a sellout in my view. It’s a complete betrayal of the nation.”….

…they said there is no indication that Congress will allocate the money needed to carry out the bill’s provisions.

4.  The Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate for the pending S. 1348 was issued Monday. If you really want to feel the pain you can read this government document in Adobe PDF format here. And then you can read this article from the Washington Post that was written about the costs last year when this same bill was considered:

Cost of Senate Immigration Bill Put at $126 Billion
By Jonathan Weisman | Tuesday, August 22, 2006

The Senate’s embattled immigration bill would raise government spending by as much as $126 billion over the next decade, as the government begins paying out federal benefits to millions of new legal workers…

Newly legalized immigrants would claim nearly $50 billion in federal benefits such as the earned income and child tax credits, Medicaid, and Social Security….

5.  Clarifying the data from the previous item, the budget report released on Monday, we have a research article published Wednesday by the Center for Immigration Studies:

Senate Amnesty Could Strain Welfare System
Newest Data Shows Latin American Immigrants Make Heavy Use of Welfare

WASHINGTON (June 6, 2007) — As they debate legalization for illegal immigrants, Senators would do well to keep in mind the most recent data on welfare use by the people in question. According to the Department of Homeland Security, nearly 60% of illegal aliens are from Mexico and 80% of the total are from Latin America as a whole. A Center for Immigration Studies analysis of 2006 Census Bureau data, which includes legal and illegal immigrants, shows use of welfare by households headed by Mexican and Latin American immigrants is more than double that of native households….

Among Mexican and Latin American households, welfare use is somewhat higher for households headed by legal, as opposed to illegal, immigrants. Thus legalization will likely increase welfare costs still further….

6.  For those of you who have not yet discovered the insightful commentary of professional political consultant Chuck Muth, we recommend Muth’s Truths:

Another Reason to Hate the Immigration Bill

Not that anyone really needs any more reasons to reject the president’s illegal immigration reform proposal currently being considered in the Senate - the amnesty provision is more than enough for most people - but now we find out the bill would introduce a measure of government wage control in the private marketplace, as well….

Understand that this isn’t the government setting wages only for government construction projects. This would be the government setting wages for ALL employment anywhere in the country, public or private, if the employee happens to be a temporary immigrant guest worker. Which means private employers would be REQUIRED by the government to pay temporary immigrant guest workers higher wages than they might currently be paying citizens working at market wage rates….

Cross-posted from ADMC.