http://www.heraldsun.com/granville/11-821647.cfm

Legislator thinks immigration deal is near

BY WILLIAM F. WEST, The Herald-Sun
February 20, 2007 11:08 pm

OXFORD -- U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield said that he is taking a centrist approach to the hotly debated issue of immigration reform and hopes for a bipartisan proposal by early July.

"The extremists on both sides of the aisle will be disappointed, but we are working hard to find a consensus position," he said Tuesday. "And I think we are very close to doing that."

Opinions differ on how to deal with the situation involving what Butterfield said are at least 11 million illegal aliens in the U.S.

Some want to erect a giant fence along the porous border with Mexico, while others favor deportation or U.S. pardons.

"If you want to know where I stand on immigration, I don't mind telling you I'm in the middle," he said. "I don't believe that we need to deport 11 million people, nor do I believe there needs to be amnesty or automatic citizenship."

Butterfield said he believes the 11 million need to be documented, with the ones who are not "law-abiding" to be sent back to their native countries. He said he believes the ones who are "law-abiding" need to be put on a path to taxpaying U.S. citizenship.

Butterfield on Tuesday spoke to Oxford and Granville County officials at Oxford City Hall.

City Commissioner Chance Wilkinson expressed concerns about the rapid economic growth of China and the impact in terms of lost jobs locally and throughout the U.S.

Butterfield made clear he supports global trade, provided there is fairness. "And that's where we're falling short," he said.

A big problem is U.S. corporations setting up factories in foreign lands where workers are paid a pittance compared to America's minimum wage and where there is an absence of strict workplace regulations, he said.

"So we're going to have to create a disincentive" for American companies taking jobs to offshore sites, he said.