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Posted on Mon, Oct. 17, 2005

White House to outline proposal

By DAVE MONTGOMERY

Star-Telegram Washington Bureau


WASHINGTON - After months of delay, the Bush administration is expected to outline its latest plans for an immigration overhaul when two of the president's Cabinet secretaries testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee this week.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Labor Secretary Elaine Chao are scheduled to be the lead-off witnesses Tuesday as the committee considers comprehensive measures to control illegal immigration and toughen border security.

The two administration officials were scheduled to appear before the committee in July but inexplicably canceled with little advance notice, angering several members of the panel, including Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa..

Although the postponements raised doubts about the administration's commitment to the issue, White House press secretary Scott McClellan told reporters Friday that "immigration reform is a priority for this president."

Bush, a former Texas governor, called for an overhaul of the nation's immigration laws in January 2004 but touched off a dispute within his party over a proposed immigrant guest-worker program that conservative Republicans denounced as amnesty.

McClellan strongly suggested that the Republican president may now be advocating a more comprehensive approach that includes a temporary worker program as well as "steps to strengthen our border and improve the interior enforcement of our immigration laws."

Bush has met with congressional leaders in recent weeks to refine the administration's immigration plans and "move forward" on the issue, McClellan said.

White House officials have also assembled a coalition of business interests and immigration experts to help advance the administration's plan.

Activists and lawmakers involved in the issue say the White House appears eager to make significant progress on immigration before the end of the year, but others are less optimistic.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who heads an immigration subcommittee, have said action may be delayed until next year because of the added congressional workload caused by Hurricane Katrina.

Finding a solution to deal with nearly 11 million immigrants in the United States is central to the debate.

Bush originally proposed a guest-worker program that would enable illegal immigrants to work in the United States for up to six years before returning home, but the plan encountered sharp criticism from both ends of the spectrum. Conservative Republicans said it rewarded illegal behavior, and pro-immigrant groups said it failed to put undocumented immigrants on a path to U.S. citizenship.

The contrasting viewpoints are reflected in the array of bills pending in Congress. Several measures have variations of a guest worker program; others call for deportation of illegal immigrants and the deployment of the military to patrol the border.

Some also call for sharp increases in penalties against employers of illegal immigrants.

Cornyn, who has held repeated hearings on the issue, is co-sponsoring a measure that would require illegal immigrants to leave within five years after the bill's enactment before being eligible to return to the United States and participate in a guest-worker program. The bill also calls for an additional 10,000 border patrol officers over the next five years.

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, has also been active in the issue and recently introduced a bill that would allow local officers to arrest, detain and prosecute suspected illegal immigrants.

Another major bill, co-sponsored by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., calls for a temporary guest-worker program that would allow illegal immigrants to remain in the country by paying fines of up $2,000. They would also be eligible to apply for permanent residency and U.S. citizenship.

Bush has not endorsed specific legislation, but White House political strategist Karl Rove has reportedly briefed lawmakers on the administration's intentions and reasserted the president's commitment to the guest-worker concept. One element, similar to the McCain-Kennedy plan, would require workers who have been in the United States illegally to pay a substantial fine before being granted a temporary work visa, according to the Los Angeles Times.

"Every indication that we've gotten from the White House is that the president is personally committed to this issue," said John Gay, vice president of the Essential Worker Immigration Coalition, a coalition of business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.