The US Senate has passed the first comprehensive immigration legislation is twenty years.
New Hampshire's Senators split on the issue.
It took months to get this far, but the toughest fight is still ahead.
The Senate will have to wrestle with the House, whose bill includes only border security measures.
NHPR Correspondent Julie Donnelly reports from Washington.
A bipartisan majority of the Senate has approved a plan which would allow the majority of the eleven million illeal immigrants in the United States to eventually get on a path to citizenship.
New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg voted for the bill.
He says to fix the immigration problem in this country, the government must do three things.
It must bring illegal aliens out of the shadows, and into mainstream american society, secure the borders to stop the flow of illegal immigrants, and penalize employers who hire them.
And, he says, the senate bill does all those things.
Senator Gregg authored an amendment that would change a random lottery aimed at allowing immigrants -mostly from Africa to enter the US.
It would also set aside two thirds of those visas for people with advanced degrees in science, technology and engineering.
"it just makes sense if we're going to invite people to come here, under a lottery system, we ought to have folks coming here who are going to do something good for us. You hear about out-sourceing jobs, but this is insourcing brain power to create jobs"
Senator Gregg acknowledged that getting the House to see the issue as the Senate does would be a challenge.
"The House position is narrow and punitive. Our position is comprehensive and instructive. I do think an agreement can be reached on the border issues obviously"
The House bill designates illegal immigrants as felons.
And it includes a plan to construct a fence along the Mexican border.
An idea Senator Gregg also opposes.
Gregg does support the Senate's inclusion of limited fencing in urban areas, but says most of the border should be patroled using high tech means.
But he says there's currently not enough money appropriated enough for high tech solutions such as unmanned vehicles.
And he will be looking to increase that funding.
"senator sununu. senator sununu, no"
Senator Sununu voted against the bill.
He refused to answer questions, but issued a statement following the vote.
He wrote that he opposed allowing up to ten million illegal immigrants to become citizens over the next ten years.
Sununu wants tougher enforcement provisions for employers and a temporary guest worker program - rather than one which is a gateway to citizenship.
Congressman Bradley was unavailble for comment.
Both he and Congressman Charles Bass voted for the House version of the Bill.
Congressman Bass says he supports a guest worker program, as President Bush does.
But he says he agrees with the prevailing view of his party in the House.
"House republicans are very firm in their opposition to giving people who got to America illegally the right to stay and in effect have status that is better than people who are outside the united states andtrying to gain entry legally"
The problem for House republicans is this - how to round up the 11 million illegal immigrants already in the US and deport them.
Even Congressman James Sensenbrenner, who authored the House border security bill, recently acknowledged that this would be impossible.
The X factor will be President Bush - does he have enough influence over at the Capitol to persuade House leaders to meaningfully compromise with the Senate?
For NHPR News, I'm Julie Donnelly in Washington.
