immigration reform

A new state poll shows New Jersey voters overwhelmingly support the bipartisan immigration reform bill being debated this week in the U.S. Senate. The survey, conducted by Harper Polling, was sponsored by the Alliance for Citizenship, Partnership for a New American Economy and Republicans for Immigration Reform, three organizations.

A big rally is planned for next month in Liberty State Park in Jersey City for immigration reform.

The White House is downplaying its draft immigration proposal as merely a backup plan if lawmakers don't come up with an overhaul of their own. It won't be necessary, Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike are telling the Obama administration.

The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee said the nation's immigration system is "in desperate need of repair" as he opened Congress' first hearing on immigration.

In a warning to fellow Republicans, Sen. John McCain said Wednesday that failure to pass comprehensive immigration legislation could mean continued election losses for the GOP and cause Republican-friendly states like Arizona to fall to the Democrats.