Lawmakers offer immigration alternative

[juang]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060725/pl_nm/usa_immigration_dc_1

Lawmakers offer immigration alternative

By Donna Smith
22 minutes ago



WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two Republican U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday offered a compromise immigration plan they said would ensure border security and allow some of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants to work legally in the United States without granting amnesty

Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (news, bio, voting record) and Indiana Rep. Mike Pence (news, bio, voting record) said they hoped their plan would jump start stalled negotiations between the Senate and House of Representatives. The two chambers have passed vastly different immigration bills and it is increasingly unlikely the two sides will bridge differences ahead of the November congressional elections.

"We believe that this Congress must come together and find a way forward, and we hope this idea can be that way forward," Pence said at a news conference with Hutchison.

The plan calls for implementing border-security measures before a guest-worker program backed by President Bush is put into place. Once the borders are determined to be secure, a temporary-worker program and an employment-verification program would go into effect.

The U.S. government would license private employment services to match workers with employers. They would operate out of Canada, Mexico and Central American countries that are part of trade pacts with the United States.

Illegal immigrants from those countries seeking to legalize their status would have to travel home to get a two-year visa, which could be renewed for a total of 12 years. After that time, those seeking to continue in the United States could apply for a visa that would allow them to say for another five years before they could apply for permanent status.

Pence said it was a plan that conservatives could embrace because it gave no amnesty to illegal immigrants. Many House Republicans oppose the bipartisan Senate bill, calling it an amnesty, because it combines border security and workplace enforcement measures with a program giving millions of illegal immigrants a chance to earn U.S. citizenship.

The House passed a tough enforcement and border-security bill that would criminalize illegal presence in the United States. The idea of securing the borders first as part of a comprehensive package has been gaining some ground among lawmakers.

Reaction to the Hutchison and Pence plan was muted. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee said he welcomed the proposal and that he would discuss it with the sponsors.

Sen. Edward Kennedy (news, bio, voting record), a Massachusetts Democrat who helped broker the Senate bill, said he disagreed with the plan but admired Pence's "willingness to break with some in his party who would rather just play politics with immigration."

(additional reporting by Richard Cowan)



Its official, they introduced that plan. Im not going to come out and risk all the years ive living here just for a two-year visa that might be renewed for up to 12 years before i can even apply to become a permanent resident.

[Gocchin Sama]

I sure hope this will only apply to adults while we would still benefit from the Dream.

[VJB2]

I hope so. I dislike anything that has to send us to another country, considering we know this place as being our home

[juang]

Im with you guys on this one. Probably the whole compromise thing would look something like this:

Pence's plan + DREAM Act + really tough border security + 7000 mi border fence = Immigration Reform of 2006/2007.

I would like something like this. what do you guys thing?

[Abaddon]

I'm up for it. Even better if in-state tuition is taken out.

[Nick]

I'm up for it. Even better if in-state tuition is taken out.

We have to establish this once and for all. Instate tuition is the argument against the DREAM Act, yes.
But, that argument is weak and easily defied. What you are saying is lets make a law that makes people temprorary and then permanent residents, but lets strip them of some of the benefits that come with it. What that does is separate people further into groups. You would be saying, yes, these people are both permanent residents, but one is better than the other. Think Diversity Visa lottery, a permanent resident that WON A LOTTERY to come here will be able to take advantage of the instate tuition, but a person who grew up here, often in poverty, through no fault of his/her own, will not have access to the same in-state tuition. Makes no sense whatsoever. Sure it will be nice to go away with the best argument against Dream Act, but there are other ways of going about it, and for resons of poverty, it is an important part of the bill. The problem with the DREAM Act is not instate tuition, the problem is lack of attention to it. There is not much that you can say or do to undermine what the bill is really all about. Even if its a cost, its a cost that will be payed back ten fold in taxes by the beneficiaries.

[VJB2]

Hopefully this allows the damn Republicans to sway a little:

http://www.nclr.org/content/news/detail/41362/