Proposed migrant reforms not new

Daily Bulletin ^ | 3/17/06 | Mason Stockstill

[NormsRevenge]

As debate over a contested immigration bill grinds slowly through a Senate committee, observers said it grows more likely that the only provisions remaining when the final vote arrives will be ones already enacted by previous legislation.

The Senate Judiciary Committee has spent weeks considering a border-security bill approved in December by the House. That legislation included stringent enforcement provisions such as stiffer fines for migrant smugglers and making it a crime to assist an illegal immigrant in any way.

The Senate is widely expected to adopt a softer version of the House's hard-edged bill. The committee has largely accepted a proposal that would allow illegal immigrants already in the country to work their way toward legal status.

"This is a very complicated bill," said Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., who is chairman of the committee. "And I think we have to get it done right."

To anyone who follows U.S. immigration policy, parts of the bill as it currently exists look quite familiar. Among other provisions, it calls for beefing up the Border Patrol by 10,000 officers, requiring employers to make sure they don't hire undocumented workers and ending the "catch and release" practice toward illegal immigrants from countries other than Mexico.

All of those plans have already been put in place, either by previous legislation or the executive decision of top bureaucrats. The fact that the same ideas keep coming back doesn't bode well for realistic reform, said Andy Ramirez, an activist and head of the Chino-based Friends of the Border Patrol.

"The reality is this administration doesn't want to reinforce and fix the border problem," Ramirez said. "They don't want to tell Mexico, `Stop sending us your illegals and start creating jobs.' They have no interest in this."

Requiring U.S. companies to verify the eligibility of new workers, and issuing fines to businesses that hire illegal immigrants, is a policy that dates back to 1986 and the Immigration Reform and Control Act.

Yet enforcement of the law has gone from weak to virtually nonexistent. For example, in 1987 and 1988, federal officials issued thousands of fines to companies that were employing undocumented immigrants. By 2000, the number had dwindled to 180; in 2004, it was zero.

Similarly, the committee last week approved a revision to the bill that would authorize the hiring of 10,000 more Border Patrol officers, doubling the agency's strength in the field.

That's the same number of new Border Patrol officers who were supposed to be hired over a five-year span beginning last year, after Congress passed legislation to overhaul the nation's intelligence system. But President Bush's budget proposal only included funding for 200 new officers.

Even if 10,000 agents were hired over five years, once the dropout rate at the training academy is taken into account, that wouldn't be enough, Ramirez said.

"That's a nice number to sell to the public, but it's very disingenuous," he said. "Those numbers will not meet attrition rates."

The bill also calls for border-crossers from countries other than Mexico to be deported immediately after their capture. In recent years, those illegal immigrants were released into the United States and ordered to appear at a deportation hearing, to which most never showed up.

The so-called "catch and release" practice was already officially halted last year, when Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced plans to move detained border-crossers through the deportation process more quickly. But some agents say it continues.

With so many proposals that are essentially policy retreads, many senators hope that more outside-the-box ideas will gain enough traction to succeed. One proposal to let illegal immigrants become legal residents and eventually citizens -- an impossibility under existing law -- is building steam in the committee.

The proposal, from Sens. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and John McCain, R-Ariz., would allow immigrants in the United States illegally to obtain a nonimmigrant visa good for six years. They would have to undergo a background check and pay a $1,000 fine after admitting they entered the country without proper documentation.

After six years, those immigrants could apply for a green card -- which can later make them eligible for citizenship -- if they are learning English and pay back taxes plus another $1,000 fine.

Its supporters say it's a good sign that the Kennedy-McCain proposal was accepted by many committee members. Frank Sharry, executive director of the National Immigration Forum, said focusing on enforcement options alone would be a mistake.

"Creating consensus on an issue more closely associated with conflict is a great achievement for Sen. Specter," Sharry said in a statement. "In the face of pressure from colleagues and the media to short-circuit their deliberations, the committee decisively indicated that they are committed to creating sound policy."

Estimates of the number of illegal immigrants in the United States range from 10 million to 15 million. More than half of them are from Mexico, and about 25 percent live in California, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.

The Senate is on recess next week. Majority Leader Bill Frist has said he wants the bill to reach discussion on the floor by March 27, and if the committee has not finished its markup, he will introduce his own version.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

[jackbenimble]

Here is a new idea: Build a fence!

[DumpsterDiver]

Here is a new idea: Build a fence!

Haven't you heard? Arlen Specter said that "This is a very complicated bill." Don't confuse him by breaking it down into easily accomplished components.

[VU4G10]

R I N O s

[Mogollon]

The fence is less important than fining the he!! out of employers that hire illegals.