http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/3283551

July 26, 2005, 8:48PM
Immigration reform thrust into spotlight
'Everything is on the table' as Senate committee seeks consensus on issue
By SAMANTHA LEVINE
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - Efforts to reform the troubled U.S. immigration system got a boost Tuesday with a high-profile Senate hearing and subsequent meetings at the White House.
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"We all know it is a rising and terrible crisis in America," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told the Senate Judiciary Committee in a morning hearing. Hours later, McCain and and several other senators, including Republican John Cornyn of Texas, went to the White House to meet with senior adviser Karl Rove and other Bush administration officials.

Congressional Republicans are trying to build a consensus over how to reform the immigration system. The White House, in turn, has begun a push to gain support for reform from businesses and Hispanic groups.

It remains unclear when an immigration bill will be put to a vote. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee recently said the Senate would take up immigration within 12 months. On Tuesday, Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said he wanted Congress to enact a law this year.

Whatever the timetable, success may prove elusive because lawmakers are strongly committed to widely divergent views on how to proceed.

"Everything is on the table," said House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., who earlier this year authored the controversial Real ID law that bars illegal residents from getting driver's licenses.

There is some agreement on the need to stop employers from hiring illegal immigrants, to boost security at the border, and to introduce tamper-proof identification documents.

But there is no consensus on how to handle the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States.

At the Senate hearing, McCain explained that the bill he introduced in May with Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts would allow illegal immigrants to pay fines and meet criteria, such as learning English, to earn legal status. The measure has the support of immigrant advocacy groups, some businesses that rely on foreign workers, and a bipartisan band of lawmakers.

Also testifying were Cornyn and GOP Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, who co-sponsored a bill last week that would require all immigrants to leave the United States within five years.

Although Cornyn has said his measure reflects the principles of the Bush administration, McCain criticized this element of the bill as unenforceable and said it "borders on fantasy."

The administration also refused to explain why Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Labor Secretary Elaine Chao abruptly decided against testifying before the committee Tuesday as scheduled. Their absence annoyed Specter.

"When the administration is ready to chime in," he said, "we'll be here to listen."

samantha.levine@chron.com