The fragile coalition that produced last week's immigration deal risks being picked apart by forces across the political spectrum as the measure begins moving through Congress. Lawmakers want to revise key elements, such as letting millions of illegal immigrants stay in the U.S., favoring skills and education over families and setting out the terms of a new temporary worker program.

Any one of the changes has the potential to sink the whole measure, which was unveiled with fanfare and was still being drafted last week.

Some black Americans reacted to the latest news of immigration reform with mixed feelings. Several blacks told BlackAmericaWeb.com privately that because illegal workers are taking jobs away from low-income blacks, those who are living in the U.S. illegally should be deported.

Some said they also supported the proposed construction of a 700-mile wall along the U.S.-Mexico border to keep illegal immigrants out of the United States, while others declined to be interviewed, fearing their jobs could be jeopardized if they criticized Hispanics publicly. A few black professionals, however, told BlackAmericaWeb.com that because they have experienced discrimination, they sympathize with Hispanics and said all people of color should have an opportunity to succeed in America, support their families, have access to quality health care and educate their children.

Senate leaders have huddled privately to plot strategy for next week's debate, which is likely to feature Democratic efforts to kill or substantially shrink the temporary worker program and Republican attempts to prevent illegal immigrants from staying indefinitely in the U.S. without applying for permanent residency or citizenship.

Workers could come for two-year stints and renew their visas twice, with a year home in between each time, but would ultimately have to qualify for green cards based on the point system. The deal also proposes a fundamental reordering of the nation's immigration priorities, moving the system from one based on family to one primarily designed to meet the needs of U.S. employers. While spouses and minor children of legal residents and citizens could still get green cards under the new system, other relatives would have to qualify under a point system that rewards advanced skills, education, English proficiency and experience in high-demand occupations.

"The guest worker proposal can, potentially, codify low wages into law," Peter C. Groff, a Colorado state senator, publisher of Blackpolicy.org and executive director of the Center for African American Policy at the University of Denver, told BlackAmericaWeb.com. "If you're an employer, why would you pay a living wage when someone else can come in and work for much less?" Groff asked. "Therefore, it's essential that we ensure opportunities for people at the lower end of the economic scale while welcoming a whole new demographic."

"Therefore, the Congressional Black Caucus should be exercising serious leverage in this debate and cutting new deals," Groff said. "If we're going to provide citizenship for illegal immigrants, then why not voting rights for felons (a vast number being black men disproportionately incarcerated) who have already served time? Why not an increase in the living wage for all Americans or a complete overhaul of the health care system in this country?" he added. "These are questions the Congressional Black Caucus should be asking and acting on."

In a statement last week, U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) said he has worked hard for a comprehensive immigration bill that would strengthen border patrols while assisting 12 million undocumented immigrants with citizenship.

"We need to fix our immigration system, but we should not replace one dysfunctional, broken system with another equally troubled system," Obama said. "So, I will work to improve any bill that comes to the floor of the Senate, and I hope to be able to support a final bill at the end of the legislative process."

"Without modifications, the proposed bill could devalue the importance of family reunification, replace the current group of undocumented immigrants with a new undocumented population consisting of guestworkers who will overstay their visas, and potentially drive down wages of American workers," Obama said.

Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, who helped negotiate the congressional compromise, called it "very well-balanced," and cautioned against revisions that could upset the framework. "You take something out and you're creating a problem throughout the system -- you may think that you're only tweaking one part," Gutierrez said in an interview with AP. "We've got to be very careful as to what is proposed to change."

As the White House and proponents in both parties began laboring to sell the agreement to the public, interest groups launched elaborate efforts to alter major pieces of the complicated proposal. "We're going to fight like mad to fix the parts we don't like," said Tom Snyder, the national political director of UNITE HERE!, a service workers union comprised largely of immigrants. On the other side, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., plans to offer an amendment that would exempt the spouses and children of lawful permanent residents from the measure's visa caps, guaranteeing that families receive a higher priority.

The guest worker program, which would provide 400,000 visas yearly for immigrants seeking temporary employment, has come under criticism from conservatives and populists who think it's too expansive and immigrant advocacy groups who say it creates a working underclass with few rights. Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) wants to strike the temporary worker program, arguing that it harms American workers and depresses wages.

Meanwhile, the crowd at South Carolina's Republican convention cheered Saturday when Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney criticized a new immigration proposal and booed a key ally of U.S. Sen. John McCain when he defended it. The immigration compromise between key senators and the White House played strongly at the convention as more than 1,000 delegates and Republican activists gathered. Many in the crowd wore stickers with "Senate amnesty bill" crossed out.

They cheered as presidential candidate Romney told them: "One simple rule: No amnesty."

During his speech and before his remarks, Romney said a proposed new visa for immigrants amounts to amnesty if it can be renewed indefinitely. "If that's not a form of amnesty, I don't know what is," Romney said.

The crowd booed South Carolina U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a key ally of McCain in both his 2000 and 2008 presidential bids, when he said he had worked with U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) on the immigration legislation.

"It's the best bill I think we can get to President Bush," Graham said as some in the crowd shouted "No!"

Graham was cheered earlier in his speech when he talked about the war in Iraq. After the speech, Graham said he was booed on immigration because "it's an emotional topic. People are mad."