WASHINGTON – Senate Democrats set up what they are calling a “showdown” vote on a bill to offer legal status to millions of illegal immigrants and create a new guest worker program, in the face of Republican senators who oppose to granting an amnesty.

“It’s time to bring this to a point where it can pass and can come into law,” the Senate minority whip, Richard Durbin, a Democrat of Illinois, told reporters last night. “I feel if members on the other side of the aisle are going to be forced to make a choice, the momentum is with us. There’s a strong momentum in this chamber and in this nation to do something about immigration.”

Mr. Durbin said that after it became apparent that Majority Leader Frist intended to bring a vote on more than 100 amendments, the Democratic leadership decided to file a time limit on consideration of a bill through which they can overcome a filibuster known as cloture. If 60 senators vote in support of cloture tomorrow, the Senate will have 30 hours to vote on the bipartisan immigration bill that the Judiciary Committee passed last week by a vote of 12-6.

The Republican leadership expressed disappointment with the push for cloture. “It’s a serious blow to efforts to find common ground to move unilaterally, immaturely, and prematurely, but if the minority insists on moving this way, then the Senate will speak to this issue and hopefully move forward,” the chief of staff for Dr. Frist, Eric Ueland, said. “I’m not sure they know exactly where they want to go with this. I would hope they would not obstruct at least the border security aspects of this that are so important.”

The decision came after days of debate over amendments the Democrats felt were unnecessary, and accusations from Republicans that the Democrats were stifling debate by refusing to vote on them. For two hours in the afternoon, senators of both parties met to iron out details. Afterward, leaders from both parties expressed frustration at the slow rate of progress and the extent of President Bush’s leadership on immigration.

“Right now we’re not going to finish a bill,” Dr. Frist said during the afternoon debate. “We’re making no progress whatsoever.” Dr. Frist, a Republican of Tennessee and a likely 2008 presidential candidate, has imposed a deadline on the Senate to pass a bill before the Easter break, which begins next week.

“It’s in effect being blocked by the other side because they’re not allowing us to vote,” he said, repeating his threat to keep the Senate in session through the weekend to push a bill. “It’s clear to me the Democrats are not serious about passing a bill that effects the security of this nation.”

In an often fiery exchange, the Senate minority leader said they were ready to vote, but on the bill the Judiciary Committee passed last week. That bill would offer permanent legal status to millions of illegal immigrants and create a guest worker program, among other measures. “We have on the Senate floor today a bipartisan piece of legislation. Over here we’re united. We like the bill,” Mr. Reid, a Democrat of Nevada, said. Republican efforts, he said, would “defeat a very, very good bipartisan bill.”

The earned legalization components for illegal immigrants, however, still lack the bipartisan support to overcome a filibuster, the Associated Press reported yesterday. The pivotal sticking point is what to do about the estimated 12 million illegally in America. The last time there was a major immigration reform, in 1986, an amnesty legalized nearly 3 million illegal immigrants, but since then the number of those unlawfully in the country has mushroomed. No side wants to be associated with replaying that failure.

As such, much of the debate in the Senate is centered on whether providing a path to legal status to some of the nation’s illegal immigrants is in effect an amnesty. Senator McCain, a Republican of Arizona, told the AP he does not have the 60 votes that would be needed to pass the proposal he and Senator Kennedy, a Democrat of Massachusetts, crafted to provide green cards to illegal immigrants after they’ve worked in America for six years.

In the late afternoon, the White House issued a statement fleshing out its support for enforcement measures coupled with a temporary worker program that it does not consider an amnesty.

“The administration looks forward to working with Congress to ensure that the final legislation does not create an automatic path to permanent residency or citizenship,” the statement said. “Providing such a path was one of the fundamental flaws of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, which granted amnesty to certain illegal immigrants.”