Posted on 05/25/2006 4:35:06 PM PDT by Nachum
WASHINGTON (AP) - Legislation to secure U.S. borders and offer millions of illegal immigrants access to the American dream cleared the Senate on Thursday, a rare election-year reach across party lines and a triumph for President Bush.
The 62-36 vote cleared the way for arduous summertime compromise talks with the House on its version that focuses on border enforcement - with no guarantee of success.
"Why not say to those undocumented workers who are working the jobs that the rest of us refuse, come out from the shadows," said Arizona Republican John McCain, a key architect of the bill.
The legislation includes money to better secure the borders, provide a new guest worker program and give an eventual shot at citizenship to many of the estimated 11 million to 12 million immigrants in the country illegally.
The bill "strengthens our security and reflects our humanity," said Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., McCain's partner in Senate compromise. "It is intended to keep out those who would harm us and welcome those who contribute to our country."
Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and the Democratic leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, both sided with supporters, a reflection of the bipartisan backing for a bill that was months in the drafting and survived several near-death experiences.
Conservative critics attacked the legislation to the end after trying unsuccessfully to pull it apart with amendments.
"This bill will not secure our borders," said Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., one of the most persistent critics.
"This is amnesty," added David Vitter, R-La., who tried last week to strip out provisions relating to citizenship.
Not so, said Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., chairman of the Judiciary Committee, in a rebuttal to weeks of debate. "They have to pay a fine. They have to undergo a criminal background check. They have to pay back taxes, they have to learn English and they have to go to the back of the line," he said, referring to illegal immigrants who would apply for citizenship.
Still, Sessions, Vitter, John Cornyn of Texas and others echoed a view widely held among House Republicans, many of whom have vigorously denounced the Senate bill as well as Bush's call for a "comprehensive approach" to the issue.
That portended difficult compromise talks in the shadow of midterm elections, at a time when Bush's poll ratings are low, congressional Republicans are concerned and Democrats are increasingly optimistic about their chances in November.
For now, supporters of the Senate bill said they intended to savor their victory. Peppered with questions about the compromise talks ahead, Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., said, "I'm going to celebrate here."
The House bill, which passed on a largely party-line vote last year, is generally limited to border enforcement. It would make all illegal immigrants subject to felony charges and it contains no provision for either a new temporary worker program or citizenship for men, women and children in the country unlawfully.
(AP) Republican senators appear at a Capitol Hill news conference, Thursday, May 25, 2006, to discuss... Full Image
In contrast, the Senate bill would mark the most far-reaching changes in immigration law in two decades. Built on compromise after painstaking compromise, it was designed to appeal to conservatives and others seeking tougher border enforcement; business interests eager for a steady supply of legal, low-wage labor; unions seeking enhanced protections for migrants who often toil in seasonal work the fields and Hispanics who are on the cusp of greater political power and determined to win a change in legal status for millions of illegal immigrants.
That last group - Hispanics - comprises the fastest growing segment of the electorate, and millions made their feelings clear in street demonstrations denouncing the House measure and calling for passage of a broader measure.
Bush played a prominent role in the run-up to passage. An Oval Office speech last week made explicit his support for the Senate's overall approach. A later trip to Arizona was designed to reassure conservatives about his commitment to stanching illegal immigration.
In more than a week of debate, the Senate made a series of changes in the legislation. Still, the key pillars were preserved when opponents failed to knock out the guest worker program or the citizenship provisions. A new program for 1.5 million temporary agricultural workers also survived.
To secure the borders, the measure calls for the hiring of an additional 1,000 new Border Patrol agents this year and 14,000 by 2011, and backs Bush's plan for a short-term deployment of National Guard troops to states along the Mexican Border. The bill calls for new surveillance equipment as well as the construction of 370 miles of triple-layered fencing and 500 miles of vehicle barriers.
The new guest worker program would admit 200,000 individuals a year. Once here, they would be permitted for the first time to petition on their own for a green card that confers legal permanent residency, a provision designed to reduce the potential for exploitation by employers.
A separate new program, a compromise between growers and unions, envisions admission of an estimated 1.5 million immigrant farm workers who may also apply for permanent residency
Even supporters of the bill conceded the three-tiered program related to illegal immigrants was complicated.
Those in the country unlawfully for five years or more would be permitted to remain, continue working and eventually apply for citizenship. They would be required to pay at least $3,250 in fines and fees, settle any back taxes and learn English.
Illegal immigrants in the country for more than two years but less than five would be required to travel to a point of entry before re-entering the United States legally and beginning a lengthy process of seeking citizenship. They would be subject to the same fines, fees and other requirements as the longer-term immigrants.
An immigrant in the country illegally for less than two years would be required to leave with no guarantee of return.
A new electronic system for employee verification is designed to hold employers accountable for hiring decisions. It provides for maximum fines of $20,000 for each worker and possible jail time for repeat offenders.
A separate controversy erupted over a call to make English the national language. Supporters said it would leave all current rights in place. Detractors argued it could undermine an executive order that mandates assistance to individuals who receive services such as health care yet lack proficiency in English.
Yup, make all your illegals legal, let in millions more. Problem solved.
hmmmm. I wonder if I get a spot in a gated community or a shanty town over looking a dump in the new America? Good grief.
Ya know, if we can find them to make them pay a fine, run background checks, have them file IRS forms, and sign them up for ESL classes, one would think it would be much easier and quicker to load them on buses headed south.
62 more offices the FBI should raid.
We have to secure the border.
"Comprehensive immigration reform" is a con game unless you secure the border.
I realize that the bill approved by the senate calls for tightening the border, but we already know that can easily mean nothing at all. I can't stress enough that controlling the border is absolutely necessary, whereas "immigration reform" really isn't.
Please, guys, do your jobs. Forget about immigration reform until the borders are secure. If and when you manage that one, we can talk about the rest. Actually, if you can manage that one, we won't need to talk about the rest. Secure the border and enforce existing law and the problem will resolve itself over time without the need for "comprehensive" anything.
I am building homes in a gated community with 24 hour armed guards WITH NOT ONE F'ING ILLEGAL EMPLOYEE!! People will buy these homes to be PROTECTED from the illegals.
The big lie technique is alive and well.
That last group - Hispanics - comprises the fastest growing segment of the electorate, and millions made their feelings clear in street demonstrations denouncing the House measure and calling for passage of a broader measure.
translated:
The democrats and republicans care more about potential votes, then the majority of the existing citizens who have expressed that they do not want an amnesty. Thus they caved into empty threats by illegals and radical latino organizations and made a joke of the entire US legal system, border enforcement, and its laws.
Arlen Specter wouldn't recognize the truth if it ran him over.
It still has to get through the House-Senate Conference Committee. The final bill should be a lot better.
Well he would if he found it in Scotch law.
The famous things Spector has brought us:
He was Ira Einhorn's ( the Unicorns lawyer) when he skipped the country for over two decades.
Arlen brought us the "magic bullet" of the Kennedy assassination probe.
He is one strange dude and no friend of conservatives. Toomy should have been backed instead of this guy.
Come November, vote everyone of them out. Few exceptions there, Tancredo, Sensenbremmer, Hayworth... FR as a community should compile the definitive list. I've got only D's to deal w/ in Congress, but I'll work to replace them with an alternative D. Vote them out, this is not their job for life.
Now, at least we know who the traitors are--all 62 of them.
S. 2611 is going nowhere; the House is unmovable on H.R. 4437. Any Reconciliation conference will accomplish mothing. Both the Senate and the House know that.
There will be no immigration bill this year and we will merely return (actually we never left) to nonenforcement of our existing immigration laws, condoned and encouraged by the U.S. Senate and the President.
We are no longer a nation with a leadership which believes in the rule of law.
Plan accordingly.
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