LIers vocal on issue of immigration
Politicians are getting an earful on the immigration issue.

BY MARTIN C. EVANS
martin.evans@newsday.com

May 31, 2007, 11:22 PM EDT

WASHINGTON -- As congressional leaders contemplate legislation that would change the nation's immigration policies, members of Long Island's delegation say the topic is generating more heat from concerned constituents than any other subject, including the war in Iraq.

"I hear far more about immigration than Iraq or any other issue," said Rep. Steve Israel (D-Huntington). "What I hear initially is anger."

Some constituents want legislation to stress border security, while others favor placing greater emphasis on creating a pathway to legal status for the 12 million undocumented immigrants currently in the United States.

Israel said he favors most aspects of the Senate compromise, as did Rep. Tim Bishop (D-Southampton), who said many of his constituents disagree with him nonetheless.

Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford) opposes the compromise. "I see it as an amnesty bill that will legalize people who are here illegally," King said. "You're rewarding illegal behavior that will encourage more illegal behavior."

Immigration changes could have broad consequences for Long Island and New York City, where undocumented workers are a source of cheap labor for construction, food service, landscaping and other industries, and where legal immigrants fill key jobs in computer science, medicine and engineering.

A compromise reached in the Senate last week -- the House is expected to take up legislation next month -- includes a mixture of border security measures and pathways to legalization.

It would set up a system to help employers verify the work status of job applicants, and would impose civil and criminal penalties for employees who hire illegal workers.

Job applicants would have to provide employers with a government-issued identification -- such as a passport, or a drivers license plus a Social Security card -- before they could be hired.

The bill would also create a temporary worker visa, allowing immigrants to work in the United States legally for two years at a time, and to renew after returning home for a year. It would boost to 115,000 the number of visas awarded to attract immigrant workers with critical skills.

A particularly controversial portion of the Senate compromise would allow undocumented immigrants who have been in the U.S. since Jan. 1 to attain legal status once they have left the country, paid a $5,000 fine and proved they had a job.

Immigrant advocates say the Senate proposal is problematic because some of its provisions would discourage undocumented workers already here from seeking legal status.

Requiring undocumented immigrants to pay fines and fees to gain legal status would create such a financial barrier that many would elect to remain undocumented, said Patrick Young of the Central American Refugee Center, in Hempstead.

"You could see as many as half the people who are undocumented remain undocumented," said Young, who said undocumented workers typically make less than $15,000 per year.

Matthew Crosson, head of the Long Island Association, a business advocacy group, said the compromise could assure that the region retains access to needed workers. "We are losing young people because of the high cost of housing," he said. "The likelihood is a large percentage of their replacements will come from immigrants."

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