Catherwood LibraryILR School

Now that President Bush has rallied Republicans to try again to reshape the immigration laws, supporters of the effort have a new worry. When the bill returns to the Senate floor, probably next week, opposition from labor unions could doom the bill?s prospects by putting pressure on many Democrats to vote against it. The threat that labor poses to the bill has gone largely unrecognized in part because three prominent unions ? the service employees, the farm workers, and the hotel, restaurant and apparel workers ? have backed the legislation. But that support, advocates say, has been outweighed by opposition from the AFL-CIO and virtually all other unions, including auto workers, Teamsters, food and commercial workers, and construction unions.