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Immigration See other Immigration Articles Title: Guest Worker Plan Being Shelved; is dead in Congress WASHINGTON — President Bush's ambitious plan to give millions of undocumented immigrants a shot at legal temporary work in the United States is dead in Congress. Two hurricanes, two Supreme Court nominees, Republican in-fighting and the president's own slump in the polls have put Bush's "guest worker" initiative on the shelf for this year. Instead of rallying behind the Bush temporary worker proposal, conservative Republicans are about to head in the opposite direction with legislation to crack down on undocumented immigrants and companies that employ them. "Political momentum has changed in our favor," said Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., who leads a group of more than 80 House lawmakers who generally oppose expanding immigration. Conservative Republicans have vowed to block any initiative that would give work visas to immigrants in the country illegally — even if the permits are good only temporarily. In any case, lawmakers say they are just too busy to pay any attention to the Bush proposal. "I think Katrina and Rita knocked it off the fall Senate calendar," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who is sponsoring a bill modeled after Bush's guest worker initiative. "Given the crunch caused by two Supreme Court nominations, and Katrina and Rita, it's looking like January" will be the earliest the Senate will consider comprehensive immigration bills, Cornyn said. But in 2006 — an election year — many Republicans won't be eager to wade into a contentious fight over immigration while also confronting rising gas prices and growing concerns over the war in Iraq. The administration's guest worker proposal is the latest item on Bush's second-term agenda to go on life-support, joining now-stalled plans to overhaul the tax code and the Social Security system. For Bush, the immigration debate is personal. He confronted the issue head-on as governor of Texas, which contains much of the nation's roughly 2,000-mile-long border with Mexico. As governor, he also developed a friendship with Mexican President Vicente Fox. As president, Bush has made revamping the nation's immigration laws a priority as part of Republican efforts to court the nation's Hispanic voters. Corporate America — particularly agricultural businesses and the service industry — also has pleaded for a way to legally hire more foreign workers. When Bush outlined his broad vision for rewriting the nation's immigration laws in 2004, the president said he wanted qualified undocumented immigrants to get temporary work visas that would be good, initially, for three years and possibly renewable for a total of six. Bush said his initiative was designed to "allow willing workers to enter our country and fill jobs that Americans are not filling." But the vague proposal — Bush said he was leaving the details up to Congress — immediately provoked widespread criticism from the left and the right. Conservative Republicans said the president's plan would reward lawbreakers who had crossed U.S. borders illegally. Democrats complained the initiative would give more than 10 million undocumented immigrants false hope by encouraging them to come out of hiding and seek visas guaranteeing them a one-way ticket home after six years. The debate was so polarizing that Bush largely stopped talking about the issue altogether. But now, conservative Republicans — driven by the complaints of angry constituents who say the nation's borders are under siege — are preparing to push legislation focusing on stepping up the enforcement of immigration laws. They say the federal government isn't doing enough to stanch the flow of immigrants across the nation's borders, leading some state and local government officials to take matters into their own hands. In recent months, Arizona and New Mexico have declared states of emergency, citing the high costs of a surge in immigrants illegally crossing. Hundreds of people have signed up as "Minutemen," voluntarily patrolling the Arizona-Mexico border. Similar groups in Texas and California have recruited members to scout for undocumented immigrants. "We have lost control of our borders and endangered the lives of Americans by not enforcing immigration laws," said Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio. In Congress, proposals to revamp immigration laws range from those that would make it easier for undocumented immigrants to become residents to plans to seal off the borders altogether. Among them: Legislation by Rep. J.D. Hayworth, R-Ariz., dubbed the "enforcement first" proposal, which would impose stiffer sanctions on companies that employ undocumented immigrants. Under his bill, companies could face up to five years in jail and fines of up to $50,000 for each undocumented worker. His legislation also would end the practice of granting citizenship to any child born in the United States, unless at least one parent is in the country legally. A proposal being drafted by Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., who heads the powerful House Judiciary Committee. His legislation also is expected to focus heavily on enforcement.
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