Thread: Tancredo: immigration plan a disaster

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Article Launched: 02/24/2006 12:13 PM MST

Tancredo: immigration plan a disaster
By Anne C. Mulkern
Denver Post Staff Writer

Washington - The impending political skirmish over how to rewrite immigration laws moved forward today as a key senator released his comprehensive reform package, one the Senate could end up voting on next month.

The proposal from Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Penn., head of the Senate Judiciary Committee, includes a temporary guest worker program, enhanced border security, new requirements for employers to verify workers' legal status, and a provision for some 11 million illegal aliens now in the country to come forward and work legally. It calls for a study of whether a fence is necessary along the southern U.S. border.

Specter, in a letter to other senators, called the proposal "a discussion draft intended to move the debate forward." He said it serves "as a starting point for discussions on how to address the millions of undocumented individuals currently in the United States."

Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado, head of the group that opposes a guest worker program for people who entered the country illegally, condemned Specter's package, calling it an "unmitigated disaster."

"Words almost fail to describe the threat this bill poses to our national and economic security," said Tancredo. "By legalizing the millions upon millions of illegal aliens in the U.S., Specter makes a mockery of our laws and crushes our already strained legal immigration system. The American people will not stand by idly as this unmitigated disaster makes its way through the Senate."

Specter's proposal would create new conditional work status for illegal immigrants able to prove they were working in the United States prior to Jan. 4, 2004. They would pay $500 and undergo a medical exam.

In addition, the proposal creates a new visa for foreigners who want to come to the U.S. and work. Once an employer proves he has a job that no American wants, a foreign citizen can obtain a work permit to fill that job for three years. That's renewable one time, after which the person would be required to leave the country.

Tancredo said the bill "would grant a blanket amnesty to illegal aliens currently in the U.S., adds almost no personnel or equipment to secure the border, fails to significantly increase penalties for illegal employers, and overwhelms America's immigration system with countless new legal immigrants."

Tancredo criticized Specter's proposal to add what Tancredo called a "paltry" 250 new Customs and Border Protection officers, saying Congress already has authorized 10,000 and has only hired 1,500 of those.

The Senate Judiciary Committee, which Specter heads, is scheduled to begin debate on Specter's proposal Thursday.

The House in December passed a bill - supported by Tancredo and his Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus - that includes multiple provisions to secure the border, including 700 miles of fences in some areas. It also would force employers to verify workers' legal status. It did not have any guest worker provision.

Tancredo earlier this month said he thought there was a "50-50" chance of stopping the Senate bill. But White House liaison Grover Norquist said there are enough votes in the Senate to pass a guest worker bill.

Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo. supports the bill authored by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Ted Kennedy, D-Mass. that provides a guest worker program. Part of that bill is included in Specter's package. Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., cosponsored an alternative proposal, from Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., and is considered somewhat tougher on border security than that Kennedy-McCain package.

"There are no easy solutions to our broken immigration system, but Congress has an urgent responsibility to implement policies to control the border and address the illegal population already in the United States," Cornyn said Friday in a statement. "I am encouraged by the consensus behind the call for reform. No one person has a monopoly on good ideas and we have to find a way to pass these reforms of our broken system."

Specter's bill also increases to 290,000 from 140,000 the number of employment-based green cards, and exempts immediate relatives of U.S. citizens from the 480,000 annual cap on family-based immigration.

Many of those involved in the immigration debate have said they expect the Senate the pass a guest worker provision. Then when the House bill and Senate bill are merged in a conference committee - which is done behind closed doors - the guest worker provision will be shoehorned in. The House will then face voting on a bill that includes both tougher border security measures and guest worker.

Originally Posted by had_enuf

"There are no easy solutions to our broken immigration system, but Congress has an urgent responsibility to implement policies to control the border and address the illegal population already in the United States," Cornyn said Friday in a statement. "I am encouraged by the consensus behind the call for reform. No one person has a monopoly on good ideas and we have to find a way to pass these reforms of our broken system."

Our immigration system is not broken, it is our government that is broken. The first step in fixing it to get rid of all these Senators.