Congress Working on Immigration, Again

WASHINGTON, April 18 (UPI) -- Conservatives in the U.S. Senate are being assured that key border security provisions will be put in place if they agree to revisit an immigration overhaul.

The Bush administration and Senate Democrats hope to jump-start comprehensive immigration reform talks with a two-step approach, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

The first step would assure wary conservatives that key border security provisions will be put in place. The next step would include guest-worker programs or adjusting the status of the millions of illegal immigrants who live in the United States.

The Senate defeated a similar proposal last year.

'It`s been tough going,' said U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

'I still say it`s 50-50. But last year, people were talking about what divided them. Now, we`re talking about how to solve the problem.'