Reidblog [The Reid Report blog]

About 30 Republican senators huddled for more than an hour Tuesday but no consensus emerged. President Bush has championed a program that would give illegal immigrants a legal status to work in the U.S. but has not specified whether they should have to leave the country at some point.

McCain and Kennedy deny that their proposal is amnesty, saying illegal immigrants would have to pay $2,000 in fines and any back taxes and clear background checks before they could get in line for a green card.

The proposal, dubbed the "roots concept, by Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., seemed to have some support from Frist. He told CNN over the weekend that 40 percent of illegal immigrants have been in the country less than five years and "need to be dealt with in a different fashion."

The Senate is in its second week of debate on immigration-broder security legislation and there is pressure to complete a bill before Congress recesses on Friday for a two-week holiday.

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