http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/border/113592

Arizonans' guest-worker proposals Senate-bound
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 01.30.2006

The Senate is expected to turn its attention to various plans that attempt to get a handle on illegal immigration as early as next month. The House last month passed legislation to tighten control of the border and require that employers verify the legal status of employees. No guest-worker provisions were approved.

Members of Arizona's congressional delegation have co-sponsored two proposals that incorporate guest-worker programs and are competing for congressional attention. Republican Sen. John McCain co-sponsored legislation with Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., as well as Reps. Jim Kolbe and Jeff Flake, both Arizona Republicans, to allow people living in the country illegally to apply for work visas for up to six years that could eventually lead to permanent legal status.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., have introduced legislation that allows foreigners to work in the United States when there are no native employees available. Those who are here illegally would have to leave the country before being eligible to apply for temporary jobs. The plan includes no path to legalization.

The McCain-Kennedy bill also would:
● Create a new visa program for 400,000 foreign workers with no skills or low skills.
● Replace paper-based I-9 system with electronic work authorization.
● Provide federal reimbursement to hospitals for the emergency care of illegal border-crossers and work-visa holders.
● Direct the secretary of homeland security to devise ways to improve border security and make recommendations to Congress.

The Cornyn-Kyl bill also would:
● Create an unlimited number of a new two-year visa for temporary laborers when no U.S. residents are available.
● Impose severe penalties for employers who hire illegal workers.
● Create a tamper-proof Social Security card.
● Require workers to have minimum health coverage provided by their home country, their employer or themselves.
● Add 10,000 Border Patrol agents and 10,000 detention beds; add 10,000 agents to investigate employers suspected of hiring illegal workers.
For more details on the immigration plans, go to http:// thomas.loc.gov/home/multicongress/multicongress. html and search for the Cornyn-Kyl "Comprehensive Enforcement and Immigration Act of 2005" and the McCain-Kennedy "Secure America and Orderly immigration Act of 2005."
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● Most guest, or temporary workers, from foreign countries must be sponsored by U.S. employers who are required to get labor certification from the federal government and prove that no qualified U.S. workers are available and willing to do the job.
● Visas for temporary workers are obtained through a complex process involving several government agencies. The U.S. State Department issues the visas and U.S. embassies and consulates determine eligibility on an individual basis.
● Temporary workers come into the country under a variety of visa categories. In each of the last two federal fiscal years, from Oct. 1 to Sept. 31, the U.S. State Departments issued more than half a million total visas, with varying lengths of stay, for skilled and low-skilled workers.
● Meanwhile, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services recorded 1.3 million admissions of temporary workers in fiscal 2004, but those reflect entries — some multiple — rather than individuals.
● The highest demand for visas was in the so-called exchange visitor category, which allows for temporary workers in an exchange setting.
"Temporary workers always will play an important role in our economy. The question is, will those workers be legal or illegal?"
Benjamin Johnson, Director of the Immigration Policy Center in Washington, D.C.