House panel backs giving residence to illegal aliens

A House Judiciary subcommittee voted 7 to 1 Wednesday for an immigration reform bill that would grant permanent residence to millions of illegal aliens who entered the US before 1981.

The bill, which now goes to the House Judiciary Committee, was amended to make it more liberal than a similar measure that died in the last Congress. In addition to granting legal status to most aliens now in the country, the bill also seeks to slow the entry of more illegal aliens, mostly from Mexico, by imposing civil and criminal penalties against employers who knowingly hire them.