WASHINGTON (CMC):

The United States (U.S.) Congress is relying on the new Democratic majority in passing a bill that could put Caribbean and other illegal immigrants on a more direct path to U.S. citizenship.

The legislators are also planning to abandon a section in the Senate bill that would force millions of illegal immigrants to return home before becoming eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship.

Lawmakers said the bill, which reflects significant shifts since the November elections, will be introduced early in the New Year.

"I'm very hopeful about this, both in terms of the substance and the politics of it," said Senator Edward Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, incoming chairman of the Senate Immigration, Border Security and Citizenship Subcommittee, in a statement issued here last Thursday.

Kennedy said details of the Senate bill will be revealed in early January, adding he hoped it would be passed in March or April.

He revealed that Senators John McCain, Republican of Arizona, Jeff Flake, Republican of Arizona, and Luis V. Gutierrez, Democrat of Illinois, are working with him on the Senate bill.

A bill by the House of Representatives will be considered later. President Bush said just before the Christmas holidays that he hopes to sign an immigration bill early next year.

Kennedy said despite foreseeable obstacles, Republicans and Democrats are now more likely to collaborate in repairing a system that is considered 'widely broken'.

Block consideration

Earlier this year, Republicans in the House of Representatives blocked consideration of an immigration bill, stating that it equates to amnesty for illegal immigrants.

That bill divided the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants into three groups: those living in the U.S. for five years or more, those here for two to five years, and those here for less than two years.

All but the illegal immigrants living in the U.S. for five years or more, roughly seven million, would have to leave the country briefly to be eligible for legal status.

Those here for fewer than two years would have to leave the country and would not even be guaranteed a slot in a guest worker programme.