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ShareWASHINGTON: The US Senate postponed a crunch vote on a reform drive to deal with 12 million illegal immigrants, a legacy-building issue for President George W. Bush, a top senator's spokesman said on Wednesday.
The leader of the Senate's Democratic majority Harry Reid "postponed the vote until Monday to give more time for the negotiations and dedicate the next week to immigration reform," said Federico de Jesus, a spokesman for Reid.
Republicans and Democrats have been locked in weeks of intense bargaining over comprehensive immigration reform, a key issue for the US Hispanic community, which is likely to wield significant clout in 2008 elections.
A vote had been expected to take place Wednesday morning on a reform bill which could then be debated in the Senate, but no agreement had been reached on the reform programme after talks ran on late Tuesday.
Unless a deal can be struck, Reid has vowed to bring up an immigration bill held over from last year, backed by Democrats but opposed by most Republicans.
If Reid cannot attract a number of Republicans, to hit a 60 vote supermajority needed to launch debate in the 100-member Senate, the issue could effectively die until after 2008 presidential and congressional polls.
Reid earlier said negotiators from Bush's cabinet and Republican and Democratic senators had made some progress towards a deal, but things were "certainly a long ways from where we need to be."
Key sticking points included differences on guest worker programmes and reuniting illegal immigrants with families outside the United States, congressional sources said.
