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McCain says immigrant bill out next week

Susan Carroll and Billy House
The Arizona Republic
May. 6, 2005 12:00 AM

Sens. John McCain and Edward Kennedy plan to unveil their bipartisan plan for sweeping immigration reform next week, setting up what could be a raucous summer of debate over whether to allow some undocumented foreign workers in the United States to apply for permanent residency.

Other key provisions of the measure include tightening enforcement of immigration laws, stemming the flow of illegal immigration and penalizing employers who ignore hiring laws.

"We intend to introduce a comprehensive immigration-reform bill because we believe that any real control of immigration has to be addressed in a comprehensive fashion," McCain, an Arizona Republican, said Thursday during an appearance with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff at the U.S. Border Patrol station in Douglas.

In Washington, Democrat Kennedy's spokeswoman Laura Capps confirmed that the Massachusetts senator plans to join McCain in announcing the bill at the U.S. Capitol next week.

"It's a complicated issue, and a lot of people have strong opinions," Capps conceded of the anticipated battles ahead. But, she added, "I know we'll have a lot of support from other lawmakers, from both parties."

Neither senator has yet publicly outlined details of his proposal.

But advocates for immigrants as well as proponents of tougher immigration laws who say they have talked with McCain and Kennedy staffers expect the measure to include:


• A program to allow some undocumented immigrants who have been in the United States for several years, have jobs and pay taxes to remain in this country with renewable visas that also could put them on a path toward earning permanent residency. Those immigrants would be required to register for the program and pay a fine or fee.


• A plan to improve regulation of the future flow of undocumented migrants into the country.


• A mechanism to expedite visas for the spouses and children of legal immigrants.


• An enforcement system that would have more teeth in it, including fines for employers who hired foreign workers illegally.

There are an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States.

President Bush has asked Congress to pass legislation that would make the country's undocumented foreign workers eligible for renewable three-year visas allowing them to remain in the United States. Bush says such a program would benefit undocumented foreign workers and employers and improve border security.

But he has offered few other specifics for his plan, which he first floated in January 2004.

The McCain and Kennedy bill would join a raft of reform bills already proposed or being planned, at a time when many conservative lawmakers insist that providing undocumented workers a pathway to citizenship amounts to amnesty for lawbreakers and is something they won't support.

Immigration reforms taken up in Congress this session thus far have focused more on toughening border security and enforcement.

That includes a Senate and House agreement this week to attach the "Real ID" provisions, new national standards for states to meet in issuing driver's licenses, to a bill for additional military spending in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The House passed that supplemental spending measure Thursday, and the Senate is expected to take it up next week.

But Michelle Waslin, director of immigration policy at the National Council of La Raza, said many lawmakers from both parties also have acknowledged that a more comprehensive approach needs to be taken on immigration reform, beyond tightening border security and immigration enforcement.

Because of that, she said that the timing for what McCain and Kennedy propose next week is good and that "their bill is a perfect transition after the Real ID."

Angela Kelley, deputy director of the National Immigration Forum, another immigrant advocacy group, added that any comprehensive reform of immigration laws will need significant support from both parties to pass. She said that is why many view McCain's teaming with Kennedy on a plan as having a greater chance of success than other efforts.

Kelley also said recent floor debates in Congress have reflected that there does exist wide agreement that the immigration system is broken and that many lawmakers know it's time to address the issue beyond just tightening the border.

"The president would be smart to at least give this a hug, I think," Kelley said of the McCain-Kennedy effort.

But not everyone agrees, and tough going for the legislation is predicted.

Dan Stein, president of the Federation of American Immigration Reform, a group that advocates improved border security to stop illegal immigration, called the anticipated McCain-Kennedy proposal an "amnesty bill" and said that "the best you can say about it is that it'll be the only thing less popular than Bush's Social Security plan."

"Why should we conform our immigration laws to the will of lawbreakers who've been willing to crash the borders?" Stein asked.