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Kyl readies get-tough migrant proposals

He and a Texas senator will call for more border agents and the creation of a top-level post to oversee enforcement.

The Arizona Republic

WASHINGTON - More Border Patrol agents and creation of a senior Justice Department position to oversee all immigration enforcement litigation are among several get-tough reform ideas contained in legislation that two GOP senators say they will introduce by summer's end.
Sens. Jon Kyl of Arizona and John Cornyn of Texas released this week the enforcement-only aspects of their not-yet-written legislation, which they've already dubbed the Comprehensive Immigration Enforcement and Reform Act of 2005.

"We need stronger enforcement and reasonable reform of our immigration laws," Cornyn said in a news release.

In amping up immigration law enforcement, Cornyn's and Kyl's bill would:

n Establish a new assistant attorney general over all immigration enforcement litigation "to ensure high-level attention, energy and accountability."

n Increase Border Patrol agents and technology to stop illegal border crossing and give Homeland Security officials enough detention space to eliminate the release of illegal immigrants into the country.

n Require that those steps be fully funded before any new temporary-worker program.

n Clarify and reinforce state and local authority to enforce federal immigration laws.

n Authorize added money to reimburse states and counties for costs related to the detention and prosecution of illegal immigrants.

n Require development of machine-readable, tamper-resistant immigration and employment documents, identification that incorporates biometrics.

n Combat illegal employment of illegal immigrants through increased penalties and additional workplace investigators.

Further details on how the bill would address a temporary-worker program and sanctions against employers who illegally hire foreign workers are to be outlined later.

Earlier this month, Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., joined with House members Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz.; Jeff Flake, R-Ariz.; and Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., in introducing their own immigration-reform bill.

That bipartisan bill would provide incentives for illegal immigrants to come forward and legalize their status on a temporary basis, while allowing them to pay fines and begin earning permanent residency as they continue to work in the United States.

Those lawmakers also touted their bill as ensuring tougher enforcement of laws.

Cornyn, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Citizenship, has said his panel will review that bill.

But Cornyn and Kyl also have said they believe immigrants now working illegally in the United States should have to return to their home countries before applying for permanent citizenship, rather than being permitted to stay during that process.
Flake on Thursday said the enforcement aspects outlined by Kyl and Cornyn reflect "a serious proposal, and I share their view that enforcement must be a critical component of any immigration reform proposal."

But Angela Kelley, deputy director of the National Immigration Forum, an immigrant advocates group, said Cornyn and Kyl "correctly diagnose the need for smart and strong enforcement but fail to offer a winning solution by relying largely on ineffective and discredited enforcement strategies."

"Partisan outlines of partial proposals do not rise to the challenge of comprehensively fixing our immigration system.

"Tripling the size of the Border Patrol, quintupling its budget and adding all manner of technological and military hardware alone has coincided with increased illegal immigration over the past decade. Proposing more lopsided and incomplete policies is throwing good money after bad."

Although Kyl and Cornyn do not detail how many new Border Patrol agents their bill would bring, Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., warned that the federal government's ambitious goals for training and hiring 2,000 new Border Patrol officers could be jeopardized by the program's "ridiculous training costs."

Rogers pointed to testimony this week before his Homeland Security subcommittee.

In that testimony, Department of Homeland Security officials said it costs about $179,000 to train a Border Patrol agent, including related expenditures on weapons, training facilities and travel.

"How could a five-month training course cost more than a Harvard education?" Rogers asked.

"These figures are ridiculous and could threaten to derail efforts to hire and train new Border Patrol agents, which will help strengthen our nation's borders against illegal immigration."