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Immigration See other Immigration Articles Title: Specter Seeks Law Allowing [illegal] Workers To Stay March 27, 2006 WASHINGTON -- With the fate of more than 11 million illegal immigrants in the balance, the Senate Judiciary Committee is prepared to work into the night tonight to craft a historic immigration bill that would allow the unlawful workers to earn their way to legal status in the United States, committee chairman Arlen R. Specter said yesterday. The move would set up a showdown with conservative senators who oppose guest-worker programs or any plan that would allow illegal immigrants to become citizens. The committee, which has been wrestling for weeks on the legislation, faces a deadline of tonight to come up with a compromise before Senate majority leader Bill Frist, Republican of Tennessee, offers his own stringent measure on the floor. Frist's bill would make criminals of illegal immigrants and offer no path to permanent, legal presence in the United States for people who broke the law to get into the country. But Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, said his committee, while still divided over language involving guest workers and other provisions, was determined to thwart Frist's measure by producing its own bill. ''We may have to work very, very late into the night, but we will" produce a bill, Specter said yesterday on ABC's ''This Week." The issue has infected congressional campaigns, divided Republicans, and pitted potential presidential candidates against one another and against their president. President Bush has been fighting for a guest-worker program to allow foreigners to do the jobs he says Americans won't do. Bush leaves Wednesday for meetings with President Vicente Fox of Mexico, who is frustrated with the lack of progress in Congress on an immigration overhaul. Immigration advocates have been holding massive demonstrations in cities around the country, demanding the right to work in the country. Some 500,000 rallied Saturday in Los Angeles against the House legislation, which would erect a 700-mile wall and fencing along the Mexican border. Today, Bush is scheduled to attend a naturalization ceremony for 30 people at Constitution Hall. Rallies are planned near the Capitol, including a prayer service organized by clergy members and immigration advocates. Several immigration and interfaith groups are planning to march down Tremont Street in Boston today. Specter rejected allegations that his bill allowed amnesty, noting that his legislation would impose fines and extensive background checks on illegal immigrants -- who still would have to wait in line behind lawful applicants before attaining full citizenship. ''We have approximately 11 million undocumented aliens here, and we've got to find some way to deal with them. If they're prepared to work to become American citizens in the long line . . . of immigrants who have helped make this country, we can have both a nation of laws and a welcoming nation of workers who do some very, very important jobs for our economy," Specter said. Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican considered a potential presidential candidate in 2008, has teamed up with a Democrat, Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, on a measure that would increase enforcement of existing immigration laws but would expand opportunities for foreigners to work in the United States. The plan would allow aliens and their families to apply for temporary visas to live and work in the United States. Undocumented workers already in the United States would have the chance to become authorized, but they would have to pay back taxes and a fine, continue working, and learn English. Conservative critics say the McCain-Kennedy legislation would reward those who broke the law, an allegation Kennedy dismissed yesterday, saying foreign workers were already in the United States and needed to be dealt with in a way that was not purely punitive. ''This issue is a values issue. Who will we permit to become citizens in our nation?" Kennedy said on CBS's ''Face the Nation." ''Basically, they came here for economic reasons because they wanted a job and they wanted to work. They wanted to provide for their families. And they wanted to continue dedication to their beliefs. We have 70,000 permanent resident aliens in the military serving in Iraq and Afghanistan." But Representative Tom Tancredo, a Colorado Republican who is a leader in the movement to crack down on illegal immigrants, said even Specter's less-sweeping legislation was a ''slap in the face" to those who went through the difficult steps to attain legal status. ''When you reward millions and millions of people, which Senator Specter's bill does do, for coming across the border the wrong way, doing it illegally, then you -- it's a slap in the face to every single person who has done it the right way and to everybody who's waiting out there to do it the right way," Tancredo said on ''This Week." ''It's bad policy. And it's also, I think, for the Republican Party, especially bad policy," he added. If the Senate passes the bill, negotiations with the House would be needed before a measure could be sent to the president. The House has already approved an enforcement-focused measure that would erect a wall to keep out illegal immigrants and make felons of those who enter the country illegally. Currently, illegal immigrants are subject to civil penalties and may be deported, but they are not considered criminals. The House legislation makes no provision for guest workers, and gives no chance for those who came into the country illegally to achieve lawful status. Lawmakers and staff members were in discussions this weekend to come up with a compromise bill to put before the full Senate this week. If the panel cannot agree on a bill and Frist's measure comes to the floor, Kennedy will filibuster it, an aide to the Massachusetts senator said. But lawmakers said yesterday that the Judiciary Committee would produce a bill, although it might not have broad support. ''It's better not to pass a bad bill just to pass a bill," Kennedy said on ''Face the Nation." The Senate committee still must work out differences on several key areas, including whether illegal immigrants should be considered criminals, instead of civil violators. The House bill would make felons of illegal immigrants, while Specter is seeking to make unlawful entry into the United States a misdemeanor. Kennedy wants to keep the violation a civil infraction. Lawmakers also must decide the nature of a guest-worker program, a concept McCain, Kennedy, and Specter all support but which is not in the House bill. Finally, senators must decide whether illegal immigrants should have a permanent path to citizenship and what would be required to make that happen.
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