An immigration deal announced Thursday that would create a guest worker program, legalize illegal immigrants and strengthen the border sounds great to some Montgomery County residents, as long as it's enforced.


After weeks negotiating behind closed doors, Republican and Democratic senators and President George W. Bush have forged an immigration compromise that is expected to be debated on the U.S. Senate floor Monday.
The agreement includes additional fences along the Mexican border and new high-tech enforcement measures to verify legal employment. Both would act as triggers toward the creation of a temporary worker program and a separate program for agricultural workers.
Under the compromise, illegal immigrants currently in the U.S. could come forward and get a "Z visa." After paying fees and a $5,000 fine, those immigrants could eventually receive, after possibly eight to 13 years, permanent residency, but heads of households would first have to return to their home countries.
Family connections would no longer hold as much weight as advanced degrees and sophisticated skills under the plan - except for spouses and minor children of U.S. citizens.
Noting that he believes the announcement Thursday was premature, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Houston, would not comment directly on the proposal, saying he "was not familiar" with the specific language of the measure. A draft of the legislation is expected to be prepared by Friday morning.
"Maybe the general principal sounds good but we don't know the language yet," Cornyn said. "This is still a work in progress."
Cornyn said he does not want to repeat "the mistakes of the 1986 amnesty," so his goal is to ensure the legislation includes enough enforcement. "We can't fool the American people that we have this beautiful architecture when it's rotten to the core with no enforcement," he said.
Without a chance to review the legislation, U.S. Congressman Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands, said he was not prepared to make a statement Thursday. However, his general position on immigration remains "no amnesty, no Social Security, no path to citizenship and close the border before anything else is done," according to an e-mail from Brady spokeswoman Jessica Peetom.
To see an agreement reached is exciting to Spring resident Marisa Olivares-Rummell, but it's "just the beginning," she said. Olivares-Rummell is the vice president of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly.
"It's a good first step," Olivares-Rummell said. "It sounds like a good plan on the surface, but will everybody do it?"
From what she has heard about the agreement, she said, it supports many things she thinks are needed.
"I have always been in favor of a guest worker program because that way we will know who is entering this country and we can set a time limit," Olivares-Rummell said. "We can also ensure that people coming over here to work will not be taken advantage of."
The "Z visa" also would "get people out of the shadows," she said.
David Kleimann, of Willis, who has advocated for a documentation program, was pleased to hear the proposed immigration plan.
"Above all, we need national security so that we know who is in our country," Kleimann, who campaigned last year for the state Senate District 3 seat, said. "They must operate under the legal system."
By increasing documentation, the U.S. can begin to control the abuse of identifications, Kleimann said, such as illegal immigrants registering to vote or committing crimes under different names.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Lucretia Fernandez can be reached at lfernandez@hcnonline.com.

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