Capitol Hill closes in on immigration reform

After weeks of closed-door negotiations, lawmakers say they are close to unveiling a plan for comprehensive immigration reform. Unlike last year, when the House and Senate passed vastly different bills, comparable bills are likely to emerge on both sides of the Capitol, including a guest-worker program and a path to "earned citizenship" for some 12 million people in the US illegally.

But lawmakers and aides working the issue say they will need at least 20 Republican votes in the Senate and from 40 to 80 in the House to move legislation this year. Before facing a floor fight, they want to be sure that they have crafted a deal broad enough to secure them.

Immigrant-rights groups say this is their best shot in two decades to enact reforms they've long sought. It's also a top priority of many US business groups and one of a very short list of items on which the White House and the new Democrat- controlled Congress see a basis for working together.

"We're actually very optimistic and confident that this is the year we're going to make history. The fundamentals have never been better," says Frank Sharry, executive director of the National Immigration Forum, an immigration advocacy group.

Last week, apple growers were the latest wave of business groups on Capitol Hill to lobby for immigration reform. This week, it's floral wholesalers and crop growers. Stepped up enforcement on businesses that hire illegal workers, including high-profile raids, are drawing more business groups into this year's immigration fight.

"Farm-worker shortages in the range of 30 percent resulted in crop loss and decisions to scale back operations," says Craig Regelbrugge, senior director of government relations for the American Nursery & Landscape Association and co-chair of the Essential Worker Immigration Coalition. "The concern and engagement we're seeing in the business community, broadly defined, is escalating very rapidly."

One reason is the stepped up federal enforcement of employer sanctions. In the last three years, the new Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency has significantly increased operations against employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants. "We're really putting an emphasis on criminal arrests in workforce enforcement," says ICE spokesman Pat Reilly.

In fiscal year 2006, the number of arrests more than tripled – to 4,383, including 718 arrests for criminal offenses – compared with a year earlier. In 2004, there were only 845 arrests. The push continues to accelerate. Three months into this fiscal year, ICE has already made more than double the criminal arrests that were made in all of 2005.

"Criminal enforcement against an employer sends a strong message to other employers to pay attention to their hiring process," she adds. Evidence from recent operations, including one last week, shows that not only do these employers hire illegal aliens, but "it was part of their business model to hire illegal aliens."

Page: 1 | 2