Labor divided on immigration overhaul -- Opposition from labor could doom the bill’s prospects by putting pressure on many Dems to vote against it.

From The New York Times:

The threat that labor poses to the [immigration] 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 A.F.L.-C.I.O. and virtually all other unions, including auto workers, Teamsters, food and commercial workers, and construction unions.

“The labor opposition on this bill is extremely important,” said Tamar Jacoby, an immigration expert at the conservative Manhattan Institute. “For this bill to pass, we probably need 80 percent of the Democrats, if not more, to support it, and if unions are what pull them off the bill or make their support soft, that is a serious threat to the bill.”