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WASHINGTON -- A Senate breakthrough on an immigration bill praised by leaders in both parties appeared endangered by partisan bickering over amendments from opponents.

Both sides acknowledged that if the Senate is going to pass a bill, it might not occur until Congress returns from a two-week Easter recess.

Republicans appeared united in blocking a final vote on a compromise proposal worked out among immigration leaders in the two parties until Democrats allow votes on amendments by opponents.

A test vote was scheduled Friday on the compromise, as well as a bill by Majority Leader Bill Frist.

Democrats said the amendments would undermine the immigration compromise that offered hope for American citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants.

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"I know the reality, tomorrow we cannot finish it," the assistant Democratic leader, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said late Thursday.

Supporters of the compromise claimed 70 votes and said they could defeat all of the amendments offered by opponents. Republicans, however, closed ranks in insisting that at least some of those amendments get votes. Both sides indicated the Senate would complete the bill when Congress returns from the recess that begins Monday.

"The momentum can move either way. Who knows what we'll face when we return," Durbin said.

President Bush had applauded the Senate's efforts to draft a comprehensive immigration bill. "I would encourage the members to work hard to get the bill done prior to the upcoming break," he said Thursday.

The election-year legislation is designed to enhance border security and regulate the flow of future temporary workers as well as affect the lives of illegal immigrants.

It separates illegal immigrants now in the U.S. into three categories.

Illegal immigrants here more than five years could work for six years and apply for legal permanent residency without having to leave the country. Those here two years to five years would have to go to border entry points sometime in next three years, but could immediately return as temporary workers. Those here less than two years would have to leave and wait in line for visas to return.

The bill also provides a new program for 1.5 million temporary agriculture industry workers over five years. It includes provisions requiring employers to verify they've hired legal workers and calls for a "virtual" fence of surveillance cameras, sensors and other technology to monitor the nearly 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexican border.

Demonstrations in support of the compromise were planned for Monday across the nation, including one in Washington that organizers claimed would draw 100,000 people.

The acrimony in the Senate at Thursday night's end was a sharp contrast to the accolades 14 members of both parties traded just hours earlier when they announced their compromise.

Frist called it tragic "that we in all likelihood are not going to be able to address a problem that directly affects the American people."

The House has passed legislation limited to border security, but Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and other leaders have signaled their willingness in recent days to broaden the bill in compromise talks with the Senate.

But Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., said anything with what he called amnesty would not get agreement from a majority in the House.

The immigration debate has given the American public a glimpse of what may lay ahead in 2008 GOP presidential politics.

Frist, R-Tenn., a potential presidential candidate in 2008, sought to establish more conservative credentials when he initially backed a bill limited to border security. At the same time, he has repeatedly called for a comprehensive bill - adopting Bush's rhetoric - and involved himself in the fitful negotiations over the past several days.

© 2006 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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