Reid has said that if no compromise comes forth for a vote by (the ever shifting) deadline, the Senate will take up its own measures and begin its own deliberative process.

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.>

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