http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/06 ... _19_07.txt

NORTH COUNTY -- Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-Solana Beach, and other leading House Republicans announced Tuesday they would introduce an alternative to the Senate immigration reform plan, which has raised the ire of some conservatives by proposing to legalize illegal immigrants.

Leading senators shelved the immigration reform bill June 7 after it stalled in debate, but supporters are working on a list of amendments before bringing it back to the Senate floor.

The new House proposal would focus instead on enforcement measures, such as increasing the number of U.S. Border Patrol agents and immigration inspectors, Bilbray said. He is chairman of the Immigration Reform Caucus, a group of 105 members, that oppose the more wide-ranging Senate immigration bill, which includes a provision to legalize millions of illegal immigrants.


"There is no reason why Congress shouldn't take immediate action to secure our borders, strengthen our immigration laws, implement true interior enforcement and establish a working employer verification system," Bilbray said.

Immigrant rights activists criticized Bilbray's proposal as impractical and unworkable.

The Senate immigration bill would make some of the most substantive changes to the nation's immigration system in 20 years. Among other things, it would create a guest worker program and adopt new criteria for future legal immigration. But the proposal has been criticized by both liberals and conservatives.

Bilbray, one of its more outspoken opponents, has repeatedly criticized its legalization provision as "amnesty." He said it would reward illegal immigrants and attract millions more to come.

His bill, which Bilbray announced with fellow Reps. Peter King, R-N.Y., and Lamar Smith, R-Texas, was dubbed the Secure Borders for Integrity, Reform, Safety and Anti-Terrorism Act. It will be introduced in the House later this week, Bilbray said Tuesday from his office in Washington.

The measure would:



require hiring at least 18,000 Border Patrol agents by December 2008;


increase customs and border protection officers at ports of entry by 1,000 to 19,000;


implement an identification system for visitors that includes fingerprinting, retinal scans or other bodily identification;


create a grant program for state and local law enforcement agencies that assist arresting and detaining those who violate immigration laws.

The bill would also would make changes to the agricultural worker visa program to allow for a "market-based number of temporary agricultural workers each year." It would also make mandatory within two years the use of the Basic Pilot Program, a voluntary system allowing employers to verify applicants' Social Security number.

Immigrant rights supporter Andrea Guerrero, who chairs a group of county human rights advocates, said Bilbray's enforcement plan would not work.

"That's an ideological response. It's not a practical response," said Guerrero, chairwoman of the Immigrant Rights Consortium of San Diego County. The consortium is a group of 25 labor, faith and legal organizations promoting comprehensive immigration reform.

Guerrero's organization released a survey of 600 likely voters in San Diego County. She said the survey results indicate most residents in the county favor comprehensive immigration reform similar to the Senate bill.

Two-thirds of those surveyed said it was "impractical to talk about sending back the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants," according to the survey conducted by Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin & Associates, a Santa Monica-based firm with a long list of Democrat clients.

The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent.

About 61 percent of respondents said they supported a legalization program that would allow "illegal immigrants to earn legal status by paying fines and back taxes, proving good moral character and learning English," according to the survey.

Bilbray said he did not believe the survey was an accurate reflection of the views of the majority of voters. He said if lawmakers pass a bill that legalizes millions of illegal immigrants, voters would show their disapproval in next year's elections.

"Go ahead and see what happens in the '08 elections," he said.