White House shows guest- worker plan for entrants
Those already here could stay for 3 years, then renew visas By C.J. Karamargin ARIZONA DAILY STAR
The White House is preparing to unveil an immigration-reform plan that would allow millions of undocumented residents to remain in the United States as guest workers, two Arizona congressmen said.
Under a plan presented to a handful of Republican lawmakers by top presidential adviser Karl Rove, undocumented residents already here could apply for a three-year guest-worker visa.
As explained to the congressmen, the plan gives workers the opportunity to renew that visa for another three years before requiring them to leave the country. They could then apply again to return.
Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., one of the congressmen who spent an hour and 15 minutes with Rove and other administration officials Wednesday, said he was taken aback by the "comprehensive" nature of the plan.
"I was surprised to find that they have gone as far as they have in preparing a specific proposal," said Kolbe, who has long championed a guest-worker plan as a way to control the tide of illegal border crossers. "We thought we were just going down for a discussion of different proposals."
Rep. Jeff Flake, also at the White House meeting, was struck by the level of detail. "I was impressed with the time and effort they put into it," said Flake, also from Arizona. "I expected more of an outline. We got more flesh than expected."
According to Kolbe, the plan also bolsters border security and immigration laws in the United States. He said he expects the White House will send it to Congress this fall. "We only have October and November and maybe part of December to go," he said. "Whether it passes this year is another matter."
Although unfamiliar with the details of the White House plan, the Rev. Robin Hoover of Tucson's Humane Borders welcomed any proposal that could help reduce the number of entrants dying as they enter the United States through the deserts of the Southwest.
"If they do it I'll be tickled," he said. "It sends a strong message that immigration belongs to the center and not to the left or right."
Kolbe and Flake say the White House plan tracks a proposal they've introduced with Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.
That proposal, the Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act, has been criticized by conservatives as too lenient to the estimated 11 million illegal workers now in the country.
Prospects for overhauling the nation's immigration laws, like reforming Social Security, dimmed after Hurricane Katrina compelled Congress to reorder its priorities. Two weeks ago Kolbe predicted that providing relief to the storm-ravaged Gulf Coast would dominate Congress for much of September.
But Kolbe described the White House immigration plan as "more specific and complete" than the plan to introduce private investment accounts into the Social Security system. "As an item of legislative action, it is definitely not off the table," he said.
? Contact reporter C.J. Karamargin at 573-4243 or ckaramargin@azstarnet.com.