WASHINGTON – The Senate Judiciary Committee approved sweeping election-year immigration legislation yesterday that clears the way for 11 million illegal aliens to seek American citizenship without having to first leave the country.

After days of street demonstrations that stretched from California to the grounds of the U.S. Capitol, a coalition of Democrats and Republicans also agreed to strip out proposed criminal penalties for residents found to be in this country illegally.

“All Americans wanted fairness and they got it this evening,” said Senator Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat who played a pivotal role in drafting the legislation.

The 12-6 vote was unusual, with a majority of Republicans opposed to the measure even though their party controls the Senate.

Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, a Republican of Pennsylvania, voted for the bill but signaled that some of the provisions could well be changed by the full Senate once debate begins there today.

In general, the bill is designed to strengthen the Border Patrol, create new opportunities for so-called guest workers and determine the legal future of the estimated 11 million immigrants living in America illegally.

At several critical points, committee Democrats showed unity while Republicans splintered. In general, GOP Senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Brownback of Kansas, and DeWine of Ohio, who is seeking re-election this fall, sided with Democrats. That created a majority that allowed them to shape the bill to their liking.

Senator Feinstein, a Democrat of California, won approval for a five-year program to permit as many as 1.5 million agriculture workers into the country. “It will provide the agriculture industry with a legal work force and offer agriculture workers a path to citizenship,” she said. The vote was 11-5, with Republicans casting all the votes in opposition.

In addition, Mr. Kennedy prevailed on a proposal to allow an additional 400,000 green cards for future immigrants, regardless of the industry where they find jobs.

Senator Kyl, a Republican of Arizona, and other conservatives said anything but a requirement for illegal immigrants to return home amounted to amnesty, and he said he had national opinion on his side.

“Well over 60% of Americans in all the polls I see think it’s okay to have temporary workers, but you do not have to make them citizens,” said Mr. Kyl, who is seeking re-election this fall.

“We have a fundamental difference between the way you look at them and the way I look at them,” Mr. Kennedy observed later.

The committee met as several thousand demonstrators rallied at the foot of the Capitol. Many were members of the clergy who donned handcuffs and sang “We Shall Overcome,” the unofficial anthem of the civil rights era.

“The first Christian value is love thy neighbor,” read some of the signs.

After a weekend of enormous rallies – as many as 500,000 in Los Angeles – thousands of students walked out of class in California and Texas to protest proposals in Congress to crack down on illegal immigrants. In Detroit, protesters waved Mexican flags as they marched to a downtown federal office building.

“Do you see the community? Do you see how many people didn’t go to work today,” asked Janet Padron, a 22-year-old resident of Allen Park Mich.

Her remark underscored one of the complexities confronting Congress and the Bush administration as they grapple with the issue of immigration.

Senators on all sides of the issue agreed that illegal workers hold thousands of jobs that otherwise would go unfilled at the wages offered.

In purely political terms, the issue threatened to fracture Republicans as they head into the midterm election campaign – one group eager to make labor readily available for low-wage jobs in industries such as agriculture, construction and meatpacking, the other determined to place a higher emphasis on law enforcement.

New York Senator Charles Schumer voted with the other Democrats and a handful of Republicans on the bill. He said he voted for the bill because it is a “good step” toward secure borders, earned citizenship, and a better legal immigration process.