Immigration concerns were heard, group says


Members of a delegation of El Paso leaders said that they were well received in Washington, D.C., Wednesday and Thursday and that lawmakers seemed receptive to their suggestions to improve a pending immigration bill.

The group, called the U.S./Mexico Border and Immigration Task Force, met with U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., House majority leader, and U.S. Sen. John Kyl, R-Ariz., among others, and had a news conference with U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas.

"It is critical that members of Congress and the administration hear from people who deal with the many aspects of immigration on a day-to-day basis," Reyes said. "I was happy to help facilitate their visit. We need as many people advocating for comprehensive immigration reform as possible. It's long overdue that Congress address this issue, and we need to move forward before the window of opportunity closes."
Task force member José RodrÃ*guez, El Paso county attorney, said he felt it was important to bring border concerns to the attention of the national media at the news conference.

"Although we are concerned with a guest-worker program and other provisions in the bill, there are also other issues that are important for us, like the accountability of Border Patrol agents and other federal agents, the detention of immigrants -- especially children -- and not having local law enforcement enforce federal immigration laws. (El Paso police) Chief (Richard) Wiles made a very effective argument that it breaks the trust between the Police Department and the community it's supposed to police," he said.

Traveling with RodrÃ*guez and Wiles were County Commissioner Veronica Escobar; West-Central city Rep. Susie Byrd; Sunland Park Mayor Ruben Segura; Iliana Holguin, executive director of the Diocesan Migrant and Refugee Services; and other community leaders from El Paso and Arizona.

The immigration bill, dead this month after it failed to pass the Senate, was revived last week, thanks in part to a rare visit to the Capitol by President Bush, who urged Republican senators to give the legislation a second chance. A long series of amendments are expected to be debated next week, and the bill is still in a precarious state.

Thursday, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the Senate Republican leader, said he was unsure whether he would vote for the immigration bill despite Bush's support. Both Texas senators, John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison, Republicans, said Thursday they would vote against bringing the bill back to the Senate floor. Cornyn called the bill "fatally flawed." Hutchison said she opposed the measure because it includes "amnesty provisions" for undocumented immigrants.

The organizers of the El Paso trip -- people in the Border Network for Human Rights -- said they had few illusions about the kind of bill that would come out of the Senate, if any.

"Something bad (for immigrants) is going to come out of the Senate," said Fernando Garcia, executive director of the Border Network. "But regardless of whe ther we have a good bill or not, the Task Force has been well received. It is now a player representing the border."

Louie Gilot may be reached at lgilot@elpasotimes.com; 546-6131.

The Associated Press contributedto this story.

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