In Congress, a long road ahead for immigration bill

The Senate agreement reached Thursday still faces stiff opposition in the Senate and the House.

from the May 21, 2007 edition

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Sen. Charles Grassley (R) of Iowa says that he voted for a bill granting amnesty to undocumented workers in 1986, only to see illegal immigration continue to soar. He says he "learned that rewarding illegality only promotes illegality. I won't repeat the mistake of 1986 by voting for amnesty this year," he said. Sen. Robert Byrd (D) of West Virginia, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, called the measure to give automatic legal status to as many as 12 million illegal immigrants "a bad dream."

In the House, the proposed deal drives a wedge through both parties. Rep. Walter Jones (R) of North Carolina – one of only two Republicans who have supported House Democrats opposed to the Iraq war – said he is outraged by the immigration deal and will not support it because it includes amnesty.

Many House Democrats oppose the bill because it assigns less value to family reunification, in favor of job skills, as a factor in granting visas.

"Immigration reform should be about national security, should be about economic security, but it also has to be about family security," said Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D) of Illinois, speaking for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

In addition to improved border security and workplace enforcement, the deal includes a new temporary worker program to fill jobs that US employers say they can't fill with American workers. The guest-worker program starts with a cap of 400,000, but it can go up to 600,000 in the first year, based on "market fluctuations."

This numerical cap will be adjusted every fiscal year. Under this plan, temporary workers would have to leave after two years, but could reapply after a year out of the country. "Temporary means temporary," says Senator Kyl, the lead GOP negotiator.

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