Washington – Breaking a bitter deadlock, the U.S. Senate today was cruising toward passage of an immigration reform bill that would establish a temporary worker program and allow millions of longstanding illegal immigrants to qualify for American citizenship.
“We’ve had a huge breakthrough,” said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee, predicting imminent passage of a bipartisan compromise.
President Bush hailed the work of senators from both parties who hammered out the deal.
The legislation was not welcomed by Republican hardliners in the House, who prefer the tougher border security bill they passed last year, without a temporary worker provision. Their opposition will make it difficult for the two houses to resolve their differences.
The Senate compromise would “offer blanket amnesty to at least 10 million illegal aliens,” charged Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Littleton, who leads the House hardliners.
“By surrendering to the amnesty demands of Democrats and squishy Republicans, Frist squandered a great opportunity to secure our borders,” Tancredo said.
But Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., said that the compromise legislation – which would require that illegal immigrants pay fines and back taxes, learn English and work for more than a decade before earning citizenship, could hardly be called amnesty.
“It is not an amnesty bill. All of these people are going to be placed into what is essentially an 11-year purgatory,” said Salazar, whose work on the legislation in the last two weeks was hailed by leaders in the debate today like Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass.
The breakthrough was possible because enough Republican senators appeared ready to accept a compromise proposed by Republican Senators Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Mel Martinez of Florida, which toughened the temporary worker plan.
The Senate had been deadlocked on a bipartisan bill approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, which allowed illegal immigrants who arrived in the United States before 2004 to work legally for six years, and then earn permanent status.
That bill did not attract enough Republican support, and was rejected in a 39-60 procedural roll call yesterday. Salazar supported the committee bill in the procedural vote; Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., opposed it.
The Hagel-Martinez compromise would set up tiers of illegal immigrants, with an easier path to citizenship for roughly 7 million aliens who have been here more than five years.
Another 3 million immigrants, who have been here less than five years but more than two years, would have to travel to a designated port of entry to the United States and get a temporary work visa, with no guarantee of citizenship.
Those here less than two years would be forced to return home.
Immigrants could prove their length of residency with pay stubs, utility bills and other receipts and documents.
The compromise authorizes billions of dollars for border guards and high tech tools to secure the U.S. borders, and also pares the number of guest workers allowed each year to 325,000, down from the 400,000 offered by the Judiciary Committee bill.
Most Democrats and some Republicans wanted the more expansive committee bill, but settled for the compromise. It “will send a very clear message,” said Kennedy, “that if you work hard, you’re devoted to your family, you play by the rules, you pay your taxes and you work toward the American dream, that you can be included too.”
“I think we have reached a plea bargain with 11 million illegal aliens,” said Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.G. “It’s a nonviolent offense, and you get a probationary sentence that’s tough but fair.”
But some Democrats, noting how hard the Bush administration and the U.S. business community have been pushing for a guest worker program, warned that an influx of immigrants could put a downward pressure on American wages.
“Who in this Congress is going to stand up and speak for the interests of the American worker? These policies are driving down wages, exporting jobs, eliminating pensions, and reducing health care benefits,” said Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D.
“For those middle income American workers and especially the low income workers at the bottom of the economic ladder, the proposal to import more cheap labor from outside our country is a way to continue depressing opportunities for them to climb out of poverty or improve their station in life,” said Dorgan.
Before voting for final passage, supporters of the Senate’s deal want a guarantee that the House can’t use the conference negotiations to drop the temporary worker program and other key provisions.
“There’s a group of us…working on a letter that would guarantee that we would vote against a conference report that destroyed this very delicately crafted compromise,” said McCain.
