http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs. ... 002/NEWS01

April 4, 2006

Lott open to guest worker program

Senator sees need for help in state's poultry houses and for Katrina recovery

By Clarion-Ledger Washington Bureau

By Ana Radelat

WASHINGTON - The huge role Latino workers are playing in Gulf Coast reconstruction has both Mississippi senators considering whether to support a new guest worker program that would legalize the status of millions of undocumented immigrants.

Republicans are split over whether some of the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants in this country should be given a chance to win legalization, a proposal that's expected to be voted on in the Senate on Thursday.

A guest worker program, part of a comprehensive immigration bill, would give those immigrants temporary legal status and allow them to apply for permanent residency after working in the United States for six years, learning English and paying $2,000 in fines.

But some Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee, say the bill would reward illegal behavior by providing amnesty to those who are in the country illegally.

Mississippi Republican Sen. Trent Lott, who is up for re-election this year, said he has reservations about backing a bill that would provide such an amnesty.

"I've told President Bush for a long time that any guest worker program resembling an outright amnesty for illegal aliens will not be accepted by Mississippians or the American people," Lott said.

But the senator said he's willing to listen to the arguments of the bill's supporters, who say that under their proposal undocumented workers would work and pay fines to earn the right to stay in the United States.

"Without question, Mississippi needs available workers for our poultry houses, Katrina recovery and many other hard jobs," he said.

Thousands of Latinos, both legal residents of the United States and undocumented immigrants, are working to clean up and rebuild the Hurricane Katrina-devastated Gulf Coast.

In promoting comprehensive changes to immigration law, Bush has said undocumented immigrants should "get at the end of the line and not at the beginning of the line" if they want to become permanent residents or citizens.

Under the Senate's immigration bill, applications for permanent residency from undocumented workers would only be considered after all pending applications from family members of legal residents are processed.

Mississippi Republican Sen. Thad Cochran also is willing to consider a guest worker program if it's clear that it would not reward illegal conduct, said Cochran's press secretary, Jenny Manley.

"The issue for Senator Cochran is that he is sensitive to the situation on the Coast," Manley said. "He's gotten several calls from people saying, 'Please don't do anything to take our workers away.' "

Opponents of the Senate bill are worried that they're losing support from key GOP senators.

Americans for Better Immigration, a group that seeks to limit immigration, gave Lott and Cochran D-plus grades for their votes on immigration issues. The organization attributed the poor marks to the senators' previous votes for immigrant amnesties.

The House approved a more restrictive bill in December. The House bill would make illegal presence in the United States a felony instead of a civil violation and calls for construction of a new 700-mile long fence along the Rio Grande.

U.S. Reps. Roger Wicker, a Republican from the 1st District, Chip Pickering, a Republican from the 3rd District, and Gene Taylor, a Democrat from the 4th District, voted for the bill. U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Democrat in the 2nd District, voted against it.