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Hayworth plans immigration-reform bill

Billy House
Republic Washington Bureau
Jul. 19, 2005 12:00 AM

WASHINGTON - Rep. J.D. Hayworth plans to introduce major immigration-reform legislation this summer, becoming the latest member of Congress from Arizona to sponsor a bill to tackle the thorny issue.

"It's going to be an extensive bill, dealing with focusing on enforcing existing law," said Larry VanHoose, a Hayworth spokesman.

To be announced after Congress' August break, Hayworth's bill would become just one of several approaches to immigration reform to emerge. It's a growing array that last week prompted Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., to predict Congress won't be able to reach bipartisan agreement on a plan this year.

Delaying would push legislation into an election year for most members of Congress. Many House and Senate members already appear to be gearing up to highlight the issue in their upcoming campaigns.

The issue is particularly volatile within the Republican ranks of Congress.

Some, like Hayworth, believe immigration reform should focus on better enforcement of existing laws and even provide a tough "no amnesty" stance for current immigration lawbreakers. Hayworth also plans in the coming weeks to introduce a second bill to require employers to abide more closely by regulations regarding verification of Social Security documents.

But others favor ways to give some undocumented workers already in the country a pathway to citizenship.

Amid these deep divisions over how immigration reform should be approached, Rep. John Shadegg, chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, has started to host dinners for small groups of GOP House members to talk about possible areas of compromise.

Hayworth's bill will not have a guest-worker provision, VanHoose said. A recent study by the Pew Hispanic Center in Washington, D.C., found there are about 6.3 million foreigners working in the United States without legal authorization to do so.

Other immigration-reform bills include:


• In the Senate, Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, today are formally introducing a bill they say would enhance border security, bring stricter enforcement of existing laws and provide no amnesty. All are all preconditions, they say, to a revamped guest-worker plan for foreign workers.


• On Monday, Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., and Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., introduced a bill they said centers on helping employers verify employees' legal status and penalizing employers who break the law.


• In May, Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., along with Reps. Jim Kolbe and Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., introduced a bipartisan bill that would set up a program for undocumented workers already in the country to get them temporary visas after paying a fine. That could put them on track to become permanent residents or return home in six years.