WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A bipartisan group of lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives said on Thursday they had reached a tentative deal to revamp the immigration system, after disputes over a temporary worker program and healthcare benefits threatened to derail their efforts.

“We have essentially come to an agreement on all the major points,” Democratic Representative John Yarmuth of Kentucky told reporters after a two-hour meeting with six other Democratic and Republican lawmakers.

WASHINGTON, May 16 (Reuters) – Lawmakers in the U.S. House
of Representatives trying to write an immigration bill met on
Thursday in a last-ditch attempt to resolve their
differences over a temporary worker program and healthcare
benefits for illegal immigrants.

The group of eight Democratic and Republican lawmakers has
been attempting to craft a bill to overhaul the immigration
system and deal with the millions of immigrants living illegally
in the United States.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Amid fierce lobbying from the tech industry and organized labor, senators on Thursday hit a snag over a visa program for high-skilled foreign workers in the U.S. immigration bill and decided to delay action on the issue until next week.

The bill was carefully crafted by a bipartisan group of Senators to address a slew of concerns from interest groups. But the provision has emerged as a sticking point for the business community and could cost the support of a key Republican Senator Orrin Hatch.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner on Thursday tried to encourage negotiations on immigration legislation amid signs that a bipartisan House group trying to write a bill was near collapse.

“I am concerned that the bipartisan group has been unable to wrap up their work,” Boehner told reporters, adding, “I know there are some very difficult issues that have come up.”

WASHINGTON, May 15 (Reuters) – Republicans in the House of
Representatives vowed on Wednesday to press on with their
campaign to further slash spending on U.S. government benefits
programs despite evidence that the deficit is shrinking rapidly.

The lawmakers said the gap between revenue and spending is
closing, but not by nearly enough, so they are sticking to their
goal of balancing the federal budget within a decade.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Senate supporters of a broad U.S. immigration bill struggled on Wednesday to satisfy technology companies that want greater leeway to hire high-skilled foreign workers.

Democratic Senator Charles Schumer of New York took the lead in trying to broker a compromise on a visa program for skilled workers known as H-1B that has divided business groups and organized labor. The two sides are at odds over requirements that companies first seek Americans for any job openings and a prohibition on displacing U.S. workers.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, who is considered crucial to the passage of an immigration law overhaul, on Tuesday vowed to fight for a biometric system that would track foreigners entering and exiting the country after a Senate panel rejected the idea.

Rubio and seven other Republican and Democratic senators, known as the “gang of eight,” have crafted a sweeping bill that would revamp the immigration system, increase work visas and put millions of illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, who is considered crucial for the success of an immigration law overhaul, on Tuesday vowed to fight for a biometric system to track foreigners leaving the country after a Senate panel rejected the provision, in part because it was too costly.

Rubio and seven other Republican and Democratic senators, known as the “gang of eight,” have crafted a sweeping bill that would revamp the immigration system, increase work visas and put millions of illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship.

WASHINGTON, May 13 (Reuters) – A rift emerged between U.S.
business groups and organized labor over a high-skilled worker
program in the Senate immigration bill, as the tech industry and
other firms on Monday pushed to make it easier for companies to
hire people from abroad.

On the eve of a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee, a
broad coalition of business groups wrote to the panel urging
changes to the visa program known as H-1B.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republicans in the House of Representatives passed a bill on Thursday, over the threat of a White House veto, that would allow the government to borrow money to pay bondholders and retirees if Congress fails to reach a deal to raise the U.S. debt ceiling.

The legislation is not expected to move forward in the Democratic-controlled Senate, but what is essentially a tactical maneuver will allow the Republicans who control the House to argue they have done their best to avoid a potential credit default and repeat of 2011′s debt limit fight.