Thread: Specter Draft on Immigrants Parts Ways With Bush

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/12/politics/12immig.html

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
Published: November 12, 2005
WASHINGTON, Nov. 11 - The Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee is circulating a draft of a compromise immigration bill that does not include guest worker provisions favored by President Bush.

The draft from the lawmaker, Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, opens a new stage in an emotional debate that is expected to play a major role in elections in many states next year. It has already divided the Republican Party, pitting talk-radio populists hostile to illegal immigrants against businesses seeking willing workers and religious groups with humanitarian concerns.

In a letter to colleagues, Mr. Specter called his document "a discussion draft intended to move the debate forward in anticipation of the Senate taking up immigration reform early next year." He added, "I do not necessarily endorse every provision included."

But proponents of a more open immigration policy, such as Mr. Bush has proposed, said they were disappointed in Mr. Specter's starting point. The president has called for an expanded temporary worker program that would be open to illegal immigrants currently in the country, a group estimated at more than eight million. The administration initially proposed offering such temporary workers a path toward permanent legal status as well, but officials have recently dropped that provision.

Senators John McCain, Republican of Arizona, and Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, have sponsored a bill that incorporates the administration's original goals. Conservative critics call that proposal "amnesty" because it would accept people who entered the country by breaking the law.

In contrast, Mr. Specter's early draft hews more closely to a rival bill sponsored by Senators John Cornyn of Texas and Jon Kyl of Arizona, both Republicans. Like that proposal, which emphasizes bolstering border security and enforcement of immigration law, Mr. Specter's draft would require illegal immigrants to return to their home countries before applying for re-entry as temporary workers. And it would require them to leave again after a maximum of six years in that role.

Blair C. Jones, a spokesman for the White House, said Friday that the president was "pleased that Congress is continuing to address this important issue."

"The administration," Mr. Jones added, "is continuing to consult with Congress to discuss realistic, comprehensive immigration reform."

But J. Kevin Appleby, an immigration lobbyist for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, called the starting point in the Specter draft "troubling." Mr. Appleby argued that requiring illegal immigrants with ties in the United States to go home was "not workable" and that the obligation to leave again would keep them from coming "out of the shadows."

Still, Senate aides said Mr. Specter's draft served as a marker to ensure that his committee would play a role in shaping any legislation. By starting the debate, he has made it harder for Senate leaders to take up on the floor a more restrictive immigration bill that might be passed by the House, where conservative opponents of the president's proposal have a stronger hand.

Blain Rethmeier, a spokesman for Mr. Specter, said the senator had not taken a position on the terms of the guest worker program and was merely seeking to jump-start the debate.

Laura Capps, a spokeswoman for Mr. Kennedy, said his staff was optimistic that the final bill would more closely resemble the proposal he has advanced with Mr. McCain.

"We are glad that Senator Specter is moving forward with comprehensive immigration reform," Ms. Capps said. "It is long overdue."

But the nonpartisan political analyst Charles Cook questioned whether Republicans would seek to take up so divisive a measure in an election year. The immigration debate, Mr. Cook said, is already "white hot on the Republican side."

Things are looking up. It appears as if we have gotten their attention. just hope they don't take it and let Bush or the other bleeding hearts or GREEDIES butcher any plan that has merit.

So are we supposed to just let the problem get progressively worse? Let us hope the better of the House bills get through.