http://www.dailybulletin.com/ci_3543982

Senate to consider guest worker program

Mason Stockstill, Staff Writer
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

The first version of a border security bill to be considered by the Senate includes provisions for a temporary worker program, a proposal sought by President Bush, which angered many who called it amnesty in disguise.
The bill from Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., sets up a potentially divisive showdown should the Senate version of immigration legislation that was passed by the House last year end up including the controversial program.

Specter's version of the bill will be the starting point for the Senate Judiciary Committee's discussion of immigration legislation that was passed by the House late last year. The committee, which Specter chairs, plans to take up the issue on Thursday.

The bill would create a temporary worker visa for foreigners who can prove they have a job waiting in the United States. The visa would be good for three years, with one three-year extension.

It also loosens a House proposal to require employers to check the eligibility of all employees, instead calling only for employers to confirm the Social Security Numbers of newly hired workers.

"Chairman Specter's bill recognizes that enforcement alone will not alleviate our country's illegal immigration troubles," said Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., in a statement. Flake, along with Sens. Edward Kennedy and John McCain, has pushed for a temporary worker program. "It's an encouraging step towards achieving comprehensive reform."

The president first proposed a temporary worker program in 2004, saying it would reduce illegal immigration while maintaining the supply of labor provided by immigrants.

But critics blasted the proposal, calling the temporary worker plan a flawed idea that would provide a backdoor entrance into the country for illegal immigrants.

The bill as originally passed by the House included more resources for the Border Patrol, new surveillance technology along the U.S.-Mexico divide, and tougher penalties for existing crimes like document fraud and alien smuggling.

It also would increase fines for companies that hire illegal immigrants to as high as $40,000 per unauthorized worker, extend the border fence between the two countries, and make it a crime for anyone to help or transport an immigrant who is in the country illegally.

The legislation sparked protest across the country from immigrant advocates, who called it a harsh clampdown that focused too much on border enforcement and failed to address other ways of reducing illegal immigration.

Estimates of the number of illegal immigrants in the United States range from 10 million to 15 million. More than half of them are from Mexico, and about 25 percent live in California, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has said he wants to hold hearings on the legislation on the floor of the Senate by the end of March.