Comments are being left after this article at the source link.
~~~~~

June 15, 2007, 5:26PM
Immigration reform gets second chance
Pressure from activists, industry and White House revives Senate bill


By MICHELLE MITTELSTADT
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — Senate leaders, under intense pressure from immigrant-rights groups, the business sector and the White House, agreed Thursday on a plan to revive an immigration bill sidetracked last week by partisan clashes and conservative opposition.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., accepted a plan that paves the way for the bipartisan legislation to return to the Senate floor as early as next week.

The deal painstakingly negotiated by the bill's architects met Reid's demand to whittle down more than 300 proposed amendments to a manageable number. Nineteen amendments, 10 Republican and nine Democratic, will be debated — some described as "deal killers" if they pass.

The legislation would pair increased enforcement of immigration laws with a temporary worker program and, most controversially, place millions of illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship.

An amendment by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, made the final list, much of which remained under wraps Thursday night.

Her measure would require all adult illegal immigrants in the work force to return home to apply for the "Z" visa granting them legal work and resident status. Currently, the bill requires a return home only for those applying for a green card, a process that would take at least eight years. Hutchison contends her amendment would "take the amnesty out of the bill" — and could garner more conservative support for the overhaul.

Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn, among the conservatives with deep doubts about the legislation, complained Thursday about a process that allowed a select group of senators to pick which amendments to accept. Cornyn had filed 30 amendments, gaining votes on three before the bill was sidelined.

The negotiators' talks were invigorated Thursday when President Bush — who has been uncommonly active in lobbying Congress for an immigration fix — endorsed a GOP plan for an immediate $4.4 billion infusion to bolster border security.


Hot topic on talk radio
The move to offer the downpayment on border and interior enforcement marks an attempt to quell a revolt by Americans bombarding senators with angry phone calls, e-mails and faxes. Their message: We've got no faith that you'll actually enforce the law or increase border security.

"Senators on both sides are being pounded by talk radio," said Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott, R-Miss.

The lobbying has been equally furious on the other side, with immigrant-rights advocates demanding a legalization program; business interests pressing for a temporary worker program and more green cards for skilled immigrants; and religious institutions demanding retention of a legal immigration system chiefly focused on family reunification.

The desire to frontload immigration enforcement spending was also welcomed by Democrats as a necessary confidence-building step.

"If we can assure the American people that the security measures we have in the legislation are, in fact, going to be funded, I think that will take care of the concern that people have," said Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo.

Some conservative critics of the bill, however, fumed that the $4.4 billion is little more than a way to buy votes.

"This is a blatant attempt by senators to extort votes so they can fast-track an amnesty plan," said Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-Calif., chairman of the House Immigration Reform Caucus.

Even as the bill's backers found a way to resuscitate the legislation, new questions were being raised about its potential impact.

A senior citizens' group issued a study estimating more than 2 million illegal immigrants could gain nearly $1 trillion in Social Security benefits by 2040 if the bill becomes law.

"We're unequivocally certain that it's going to have a devastating effect on the solvency of Social Security, which is already estimated to go bankrupt in 2041," said Shannon Benton, executive director of TREA Senior Citizens League, a nonpartisan advocacy group that claims a membership of 1.2 million people.

Hutchison sought to deny Social Security credit for all time worked under illegal status.

But her amendment, accepted by the Senate during the earlier floor debate, was pared to deny work credits only to illegal immigrants who obtained legitimate Social Security numbers after January 2004. Otherwise the amendment could have required changes in the 2004 Social Security Protection Act, triggering the opposition of powerful senators.


Big numbers in play

The senior citizens' group estimates illegal immigrants who received Social Security numbers prior to 2004 would be on track to receive more than $966 billion in Social Security benefits by 2040.

"I am very concerned about it because I believe that we should keep our Social Security system in the black and intact," Hutchison said.

Benton's group does not necessarily advocate that illegal immigrants be denied Social Security, she stressed.

"We think that members of Congress, maybe they are not aware of it," Benton said. "And we want to make sure Congress and the American people are aware of this issue before it's too late."

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4891987.html