[Vision2020] Senate Panel Approves Immigration Reforms

[Tom Hansen]

>From today's (March 28, 2006) Spokesman Review -

It appears that the US Senate is showing signs of a conscience.

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Senate panel approves immigration reforms
Bill makes getting citizenship easier

David Espo
Associated Press
March 28, 2006

WASHINGTON - The Senate Judiciary Committee approved sweeping election-year
legislation Monday that clears the way for 11 million illegal aliens to seek
U.S. citizenship, a victory for demonstrators who had spilled into the
streets by the hundreds of thousands demanding better treatment for
immigrants.

With a bipartisan coalition in control, the committee also voted down
proposed criminal penalties on immigrants found to be in the country
illegally. It approved a new temporary program allowing entry for 1.5
million workers seeking jobs in the agriculture industry.

"All Americans wanted fairness and they got it this evening," said Sen.
Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., who played a pivotal role in drafting the
legislation.

There was no immediate reaction from the White House, and Sen. Lindsey
Graham, R-S.C., said he hoped President Bush would participate in efforts to
fashion consensus legislation. "The only thing that's off the table is
inaction," said Graham, who voted for the committee bill.

The 12-6 vote broke down along unusual lines, with a majority of the panel's
Republicans opposed to the measure even though their party controls the
Senate.

Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., seeking re-election this fall, said the bill offered
amnesty to illegal immigrants and sought unsuccessfully to insert tougher
provisions. He told fellow committee members that the economy would turn
sour someday and Americans workers would want the jobs that now go to
illegal immigrants.

Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, of Pennsylvania, was one of four
Republicans to support the bill, but he signaled strongly that some of the
more controversial provisions could be changed when the measure reaches the
Senate floor. That is "very frequently" the case when efforts to reach a
broad bipartisan compromise falter, he noted.

In general, the bill is designed to strengthen enforcement of U.S. borders,
regulate the flow into the country of so-called guest workers and determine
the legal future of the estimated 11 million immigrants living in the United
States illegally.

The bill would double the Border Patrol and authorizes a "virtual wall" of
unmanned vehicles, cameras and censors to monitor the U.S.-Mexico border.

It also allows more visas for nurses and agriculture workers, and shelters
humanitarian organizations from prosecution if they provide non-emergency
assistance to illegal residents.

The most controversial provision would permit illegal aliens currently in
the country to apply for citizenship without first having to return home, a
process that would take at least six years. They would have to pay a fine,
learn English, study American civics, demonstrate they had paid their taxes
and take their place behind other applicants for citizenship, according to
aides to Kennedy.

Arizona GOP Sen. John McCain, a potential presidential contender who worked
with Kennedy on the issue, told reporters the street demonstrations had made
an impact. "All those people who were demonstrating are not here illegally.
They are the children and grandchildren" of those who may have been, he
said.

The committee met as several thousand demonstrators rallied at the foot of
the Capitol. Many were members of the clergy who donned handcuffs and sang
"We Shall Overcome," the unofficial anthem of the civil rights era.

After a weekend of enormous rallies - a crowd of as many as 500,000
demonstrators in Los Angeles - thousands of students walked out of class in
California and Texas to protest proposals to crack down on illegal
immigrants.

"Do you see the community? Do you see how many people didn't go to work
today?" asked Janet Padron, attending a rally in Michigan.

Her remark underscored one of the issue's complexities.

Senators on all sides agreed that illegal workers hold thousands of jobs
that otherwise would go unfilled at the wages offered.

The agriculture industry is "almost entirely dependent on undocumented
workers," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.

In purely political terms, the issue threatened to fracture Republicans as
they head into the midterm election campaign - one group eager to make labor
readily available for low-wage jobs in industries such as agriculture,
construction and meatpacking, the other determined to place a higher
emphasis on law enforcement.

That was a split Bush was hoping to avoid after a political career spent
building support for himself and his party from the fast-growing Hispanic
population.

"America should not have to choose between being a welcoming society and
being a lawful society," Bush said at a naturalization ceremony for new
citizens. "We can be both at the same time."

Bush has said he favors a guest worker program, but it is unclear whether
the administration would insist on a provision to require illegal immigrants
already in the country to return home before they are allowed to apply for
citizenship.

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho


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"In America, anybody can become president.  
That's one of the risks you take . . ."

- Adlai Stevenson

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