Posted on 04/03/2006 7:36:42 PM PDT by Aussie Dasher
Republican senators uncertain of support for a proposal to allow illegal immigrants with jobs to remain in this country reached for a compromise late Monday to bolster votes for the measure.
Meeting into the evening in the office of Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., the lawmakers considered allowing illegal immigrants who have been in the country more than five years or other connections to the United States to remain legally and eventually seek citizenship.
"We're looking at the roots concept, and that is if they have been here more than five years," Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said after leaving the meeting. "That is a reasonable line as to people who have roots who ought to be treated differently. And if they have been here less then five years, they do not have roots to the same extent and can be treated differently, and that is what we're looking at."
The fate of those with less time in the country was unclear, but Specter, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, suggested they might be asked to go to ports of entry, like the Texas border city of El Paso.
A similar proposal was made in Specter's committee for younger, unmarried and more recent illegal immigrants before they re-entered as authorized guest workers.
Specter said the proposals _ mostly brought forward by Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb. _ would be spelled out to other Republicans on Tuesday morning.
"What we're trying to figure out is something which will be workable so 11 million undocumented will come forward, not create a fugitive class," he said.
The evening work was a sign of the pressure senators are feeling to get a bill passed by week's end. Hagel and Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., who also participated in the meeting, said they were looking for a bill that would appeal to a broader base and clear the Senate to begin negotiations with the House.
The House passed a tougher bill last year that would make being in the country illegally a felony.
The Senate began its second week of debate Monday on immigration, but had yet to resolve which of three major proposals it would move forward.
A bill approved by the Judiciary Committee _ based on a proposal by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass. _ would allow illegal immigrants in the United States before Jan. 7, 2004 and who have jobs, to work legally for an additional six years and eventually become citizens. The proposal has drawn opposition from some who consider it amnesty.
A proposal by Frist does not deal with illegal immigrants but boosts border enforcement and cracks down on employers who hire illegal workers.
A third bill proposed by Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas and Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., would give illegal immigrants up to five years to leave the country before they can return legally to apply for permanent residence or be guest workers.
Earlier Monday, the Senate voted 91-1 in favor of a proposal by Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., to allow legal immigrants fluent in English to become U.S. citizens in four years rather than five.
An estimated 7.2 million legal permanent residents have lived in the United States long enough to become Americans, according to the Homeland Security Department's Citizenship and Immigration Services office. The wait to become an American is five years, three years if the legal permanent resident marries a U.S. citizen.
Alexander said a shorter naturalization wait might motivate more green card holders to seek U.S. citizenship.
"After we secure our borders, after we create a legal status for foreigners who work here and study here, the third indispensable step is to help prospective citizens become Americans," Alexander said.
His measure also up to $500 in vouchers to immigrants to pay for English courses and grants to groups that provide classes in U.S. history and civics, paid for by a portion of fees collected from applicants for naturalization, green cards and other immigration benefits.
President Bush is backing proposals for temporary work programs as a way "because that will relieve pressure off the border," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.
"It will allow our Border Patrol agents to focus on the criminals and the terrorists, the smugglers and traffickers that are trying to come into this country for the wrong reasons."
Also Monday, the Senate voted 84-6 in favor of providing $50 million over five years for crime fighting by local law enforcement agencies within 100 miles of the U.S.-Mexican border. The House authorized $100 million over a year for local officials within 25 miles of the border.
Earlier, a Senate panel wrestled with how to reduce a backlog of immigration cases in federal appeals courts. Most of the appeals involve people seeking asylum or those who are refugees. The appeals have risen from 1,723 cases in 2000 to 12,349 in 2005.
Sen. Lamar Alexander's amendment is S1815.
Living easy, living free
Season ticket on a one-way ride
Asking nothing, leave me be
Taking everything in my stride
Don't need reason, don't need rhyme
Ain't nothing I would rather do
Going down, party time
My friends are gonna be there too
I'm on the highway to hell
No stop signs, speed limit
Nobody's gonna slow me down
Like a wheel, gonna spin it
Nobody's gonna mess me round
Hey Satan, payed my dues
Playing in a rocking band
Hey Momma, look at me
I'm on my way to the promised land
I'm on the highway to hell
(Don't stop me)
And I'm going down, all the way down
I'm on the highway to hell
Yeeeeah!
Your ideas, unlike mine, are crap.
Thank you for your words of cowardice and surrender.
Gee $500 for english and civics classes. (Only $60 million if there is only 12 million illegals here)
They can still put a "felony" provision in the bill and it will be politically correct...charge employers with a felony if they knowingly hire and illegal and enforce the law.
Just how many illegal workers contribute to your "enterprise'? Just wondering.
Do not legalise this criminal invasion of our country. These people have already shown a total disregard for our laws by illegally entering the country and evading our tax laws. If we reward them for these illegal acts, should we not also reward our own citizen lawbreakers?
Where do we draw the line on which criminals to reward. Do I get to choose which laws I have to obey? As a Citizen, I should have at least as many rights as an ILLEGAL alien.
If we come down hard on employers who hire them, their jobs will dry up and they will go home, where they belong.
PS there are no jobs Americans won't do, if the pay is right. These ILLEGAL aliens keep the wages artificially low and help keep the less skilled in this country impoverished.
In a nutshell, no jobs, no welfare, the illegals will go home.
You're an illegal? And, yes, I can shoot straighter than your children. I assume they are drunken idiots like daddy.
Sorry I don't view that way. My main concerns have always been security and some to slow this down and have some sort of assilimation process occur with these immigrants. Also in the process of doing so not make the Hispanic community vote Dem in large numbers. That would have been a shame since the majority of Mexican Americans deem illegal immigration a major problem.
If this final bill contains provisions for real border security and a sensible worker program ,thats not anything goes, I can get behind it. Also, it appears that some are recognizing that not all these illegals want to be citizens. That is a good thing.
The alternative is nothing. Politically, the House bill that so many people want can't pass. There has to be a compromise on it. The foes of illegal immigration if they would wake up and smell the coffee should realize that. However if pressed to a position of its all or nothing we will get Nothing. Furthermore, if the Dems take Congress and maybe the White House you can forget about any meaningful reform. In fact the problems that so many here rightfully complain about will have increased 10 fold by the time we get back into power.
Compromise is not a always a dirty word. In fact its often how things get done and one reason why this Country works. The key is that the compromise doesn't negate the underlying principal you are fighting for.
Yes indeed. In fact one of the pillars of Marx's dielectic materialism was thesis, anti-thesis, synthesis...which is exactly what the senate is doing to move us step-by-step toward socialism.
Gee sounds just like consensus building, which is soooo popular in education circles. Lets the fools think they actually had a say in what was about to be done to them....... :)
I'm wondering how far they are willing to go.
they are only doing something now because publicity like the Minutemen has shamed them..the question is will they do the right thing or just flim flam us again?
"We're looking at the roots concept"
OKay ... anyone named Kunta Kinte can stay.
No way, Jose, to amnesty!
Compromise is not a good idea when the majority of Americans do not want amnesty. Hurry November.
Dittos ...
"ohn Cornyn and John Kyl have it right... 5 years and you are outta here - get in line where you belong...the 5 years avoids a quick withdrawal so as not to cause economic problems...but the sooner they get out the higher they get on the re-entry legally list. Then, pass a bill that demands that local authorities, municipalities, schools, etc that get any federal funding MUST verify status and notify immigration authorities when they identify illegals or lose federal funds... and employers must verify status or face stiff penalties....and enforce it !!! And while they are at it -- stop ALL social services and freebies given to illegals...basic necessities and trips home with retina scan IDs so if they are found here again - mandatory prison time in a tent-city in Arizona ... "
There will be a guest worker bill. To make it good, they need to pass English as an official language at the same time.
This stuff makes me sick. I see what the mexicans are up to and I don't like it one bit.
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