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Posted on Thu, Dec. 15, 2005

Bill won't contain guest-worker language, Hastert tells colleagues

BY DENA BUNIS
The Orange County Register

WASHINGTON - In a victory for those Republicans who advocate an immigration bill that deals only with security issues, House Speaker Dennis Hastert told his colleagues Thursday that there will be no guest-worker language in the bill expected to be voted on Friday.

Still to be decided was whether the House would vote on such contentious matters as whether children of illegal immigrants would continue to be citizens at birth and whether employers would have to verify the legal status of all its workers or just those hired in the future.

The overall bill tightens border security, makes it easier to deport illegal immigrants - especially those from countries other than Mexico - and requires employers to start verifying that their workers are legally entitled to work here.

Most Democrats oppose the bill, and Friday's vote could be a close one although GOP leaders have expressed confidence that it will pass.

Fifteen amendments were debated Thursday. One of the most contested was one to construct more fencing along parts of the southern border that have the highest incidence of illegal crossings and border deaths. The measure would cost $2.2 billion. The amendment passed easily.

The guest-worker language was going to be part of a broad amendment authored by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis. After Hastert agreed to take out the language during a closed-door, members-only meeting of the Republican caucus, Rep. Ed Royce said: "I indicated my support for the bill and that all of us should be supporting it because now we were moving a comprehensive enforcement border-security bill that would keep the focus on border protection."

Royce, R-Calif., was among a group of nearly two dozen GOP lawmakers who balked at including in the bill language that would have essentially said the U.S. economy needed a guest-worker program.

Removing that provision gave the GOP leaders enough votes to ensure that the bill will be brought to a final vote Friday. Leading the charge to get the language included was Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz. Flake could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Although the guest-worker language was not going to be in the House bill, such a provision is likely to be included in any bill the Senate debates early next year. The White House supports a bill that includes both enforcement and a temporary-worker program.

The dustup over the guest-worker language focuses once again on the sharp divide among GOP members on immigration reform.

"The Republican Party has a split personality on this issue" said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., who objected to the guest-worker language.

"There are those of us who identify with the national wing and patriotic wing of the party who have always been adamant on the illegal immigration issues," he said. "And on the other side you have those people who believe in business and global marketplace concept. So you have a party with two different views on one of the major issues of the day."

Added to the philosophical differences has been pressure being brought from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which opposes the bill and says it will take a person's vote on the issue into consideration when deciding whether to support his or her re-election.

Rep. John Campbell, R-Calif., got his amendment approved that would hold up law enforcement grants to so-called sanctuary cities - those cities that forbid police from turning information about illegal immigrants over to federal authorities.

Such a ban "is a violation of federal law," Campbell said. "It is just wrong."

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, the ranking Democrat on the immigration subcommittee, said Campbell's amendment "forces them to enforce civil immigration laws. It forces our local government to take on extra responsibilities without funding."