Senators seek compromise on immigration
BY MICHELLE MITTELSTADT
The Dallas Morning News

WASHINGTON - Key Senate Republicans on Wednesday night offered compromise immigration legislation that seeks to sway conservative holdouts by providing slightly less generous treatment for illegal immigrants than the bill now foundering on the floor.

While it remained unclear whether enough conservatives would support it, the Democrats held their fire as Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., unveiled an 11th-hour alternative that still would place millions of illegal immigrants on a path to eventual citizenship. With Democrats solidly united behind the idea of legalization, they could potentially provide the votes necessary to push the GOP compromise to victory.

"It moves the debate forward," Frist said, though he declined to predict the outcome of the vote expected Friday.

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada didn't close the door to his caucus offering its support, saying the deal appears to represent "very minimal change" to the legalization plan approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee and backed by Democrats.

"I'm hopeful it's something we can support," Reid said.

Key Republicans have been negotiating frantically behind the scenes in recent days as it became clearer that the Judiciary Committee bill wouldn't garner enough support when it comes up for a vote. The main stumbling block: some conservatives' belief that it constitutes amnesty by placing illegal immigrants on a direct course to legal permanent residence and eventual citizenship.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who was in that camp, issued a noncommittal statement Wednesday night. "Although I've not had an opportunity to read this rather lengthy proposal, I remain adamant that we not repeat the mistakes of the 1986" amnesty, he said in a press release.

The GOP compromise would treat illegal immigrants differently based on their length of stay, the concept being to make the process simpler for those who have the deepest roots in U.S. society. Under their plan:

Illegal immigrants who arrived after January 2004 (as many as 2 million people) would be offered no path to legal status. Proponents suggest the newcomers would leave as jobs for illegal workers dry up amid tighter workplace enforcement.

Those who can prove - using pay stubs, utility bills or other documents - that they've been here more than five years would "earn" legalization by working for six years, paying $2,000 in fines and back taxes, undergoing background checks, and learning English and civics.

The estimated 3 million people here for more than two years but less than five years would face a more circuitous path to legal residence. They would be required to leave the United States within three years, if even for just a day, to apply for a temporary worker visa good for six years. They could then, at the end of their visa, apply for a green card providing for legal permanent residence - though the proposal sets aside only 135,000 green cards for low-skilled workers and thus could mean years waiting in a backlog.

Negotiators briefly considered, but rejected, the idea of making the more recent arrivals perform community service.

In the two-to-five year group, applicants who decide to apply within the first year would not face a fine. Those waiting until the second year would pay $2,000, with the fee rising to $3,000 for those taking until the third and final year to leave the United States to apply to return as a temporary worker.

The alternative in many ways parallels the provisions that Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., successfully offered in the Judiciary Committee. Their proposal also would deny a legal pathway to illegal immigrants who came here after January 2004, and treats those here five years or more the same as the GOP deal.

The biggest difference is for the two-to-five year group, which would find itself less advantaged than illegal immigrants here the longest.

"This isn't amnesty, it's probation," Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., said, testing a new strategy to fend off criticism that the compromise is too soft on illegal immigrants. "If you look at the requirements, it's a lot more like probation than it is like an amnesty. And it should be referred to as such."

All illegal immigrants, regardless of their time in the United States, would be required to report their identity to the government within 60 days of the law's enactment - but those on a path to legal status would be immune from removal. That wouldn't be the case for those here two years or less.

Asked about the requirement that the newer immigrants leave the United States to file their paperwork, a Senate aide involved in the negotiations said on condition he not be named: "It is a symbolic gesture. You are leaving the country and you are entering legally."

The details of the Senate plan changed daily, if not hourly, as senators and staff roamed from meeting to meeting in the Capitol Wednesday, under intense pressure to complete a bill before lawmakers begin a two-week recess Monday.

"It's chaos," Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said earlier.

Hoping to keep the heat on Congress to adopt a legalization plan, immigrant-rights, religious and labor unions, which have dispatched hundreds of thousands of people into the streets in recent weeks, are planning another show of force. Rallies are planned in 63 cities, including Dallas, on Monday.

Crowds "in the millions" will turn out, said Jaime Contreras, president of the National Capital Immigrant Coalition, which is coordinating the events. Other rallies are planned Sunday.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercu...s/14272435.htm

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