Thread: Republican Skeptic Says Compromise Possible on Immigration B

http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20070 ... dhb9ym78_1
Republican Skeptic Says Compromise Possible on Immigration Bill
Tony Capaccio 2 hours, 15 minutes ago
May 27 (Bloomberg) -- A key Republican skeptic of immigration legislation before the U.S. Senate signaled she'd be willing to support the measure with modifications.
Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (news, bio, voting record) said that, while ``it's not there yet,'' she's open to compromise on the legislation if proponents modify provisions she opposes, such as giving amnesty to 12 million illegal immigrants in this country.
``I think we can fix this and we are working with others who are trying to get a bill that will have more support, to take this amnesty portion out,'' she said on the ``Fox News Sunday'' program. ``We do have a bill that should be worked.''
Hutchison represents the U.S. state with the longest Mexican border, about 1,200 miles. She is a member of the Senate Republican leadership, attempted with others to limit debate on the measure and has voted against many of the amendments that comprise the compromise measure now measure on the floor.
Pennsylvania Republican Senator Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record), a leading supporter of the bipartisan immigration legislation, said Hutchison's remarks were ``sort of a breakthrough'' from a legislator thought to oppose passage.
``Kay says that the bill is better than the current system, which is a significant step forward for passage,'' Specter said.
``I'm prepared to negotiate with what Kay has to say'' about illegal immigrants having to go home and reenter the U.S. in order to get documentation, Specter said.
Hutchison's Proposal
Hutchison favors modifying the bill to require that all illegal immigrants -- not just the heads of families -- return to their homelands before being allowed to return to the U.S. The bill now creates an eight-year waiting period for undocumented immigrants to apply legal status and requires only heads of households to return home to reenter the country legally.
``The vast number of the estimated 10 million to 12 million will never have to go home if they don't want a green card and I think that is what is causing the amnesty outcry, that you can stay here, you will never have to go home, as long as you don't want the permanent green card,'' Hutchison said.
The bill also proposes improving border security by building hundreds of miles of fences and doubling the U.S. border patrol to 28,000 agents, cracking down on employers who hire illegal workers in addition to creating a path to legal residence and citizenship in the U.S.
The Senate intends to complete work on the legislation when it returns June 4 from a week-long break for the Memorial Day holiday. Supporters from both political parties expressed confidence that the proposed legislation would withstand challenges.
Better Than `Status Quo'
``I do think that this bill is better than the status quo,'' Hutchison said. ``There are good parts of this bill,'' yet ``we do need to regularize the process so that there isn't amnesty for people just being able to stay here without documentation and encouraging others to do the same thing.''
A New York Times/CBS News poll conducted May 18 to May 23 found that two-thirds of Americans say illegal immigrants in the U.S. with no criminal record and a good work history should be allowed to obtain legal resident status.
Fifty-nine percent said illegal immigrants should be allowed to apply for citizenship only after those who have adhered to the law, the poll of 1,125 adults found. Two-thirds of those surveyed favored a guest worker program that would allow immigrants to stay in U.S. for three two-year periods, with a year in their home country in between.
`Problem Won't Go Away'
The immigration problem is ``not going to go away by ignoring it,'' Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said on ABC's ``This Week'' program. ``People find imperfections with this bill but if you go against this bill you are essentially saying that you are willing to stay with the status quo.''
New Jersey Democratic Senator Robert Menendez (news, bio, voting record), a son of Cuban immigrants who opposes making heads of undocumented families return to their home countries to apply for citizenship, said on ABC that the bill in its present form ``tears families apart.''
Still, Gutierrez said ``we think this bill goes a long way toward uniting families,'' in part because initially ``74 percent of the green cards that we will give out will go to family members. That's an all-time high.''
To contact the reporters on this story: Tony Capaccio in Washington at acapaccio@bloomberg.net ;

Pennsylvania Republican Senator Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record), a leading supporter of the bipartisan immigration legislation, said Hutchison's remarks were ``sort of a breakthrough'' from a legislator thought to oppose passage.
``Kay says that the bill is better than the current system, which is a significant step forward for passage,'' Specter said.
``I'm prepared to negotiate with what Kay has to say'' about illegal immigrants having to go home and reenter the U.S. in order to get documentation, Specter said.
Hutchison's Proposal

This should be interesting. However, whatever they come up with will still be a touch-back provision (same thing Hutchinson and Pence tried to push last time around). Unfortunately they've yet to figure out that such a provision is not acceptable to the American public. All illegals need to go home and follow the legal procedures as delineated in our current law.

Originally Posted by MW

Pennsylvania Republican Senator Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record), a leading supporter of the bipartisan immigration legislation, said Hutchison's remarks were ``sort of a breakthrough'' from a legislator thought to oppose passage.
``Kay says that the bill is better than the current system, which is a significant step forward for passage,'' Specter said.
``I'm prepared to negotiate with what Kay has to say'' about illegal immigrants having to go home and reenter the U.S. in order to get documentation, Specter said.
Hutchison's Proposal

This should be interesting. However, whatever they come up with will still be a touch-back provision (same thing Hutchinson and Pence tried to push last time around). Unfortunately they've yet to figure out that such a provision is not acceptable to the American public. All illegals need to go home and follow the legal procedures as delineated in our current law.

I asked her staffer if the illegal Chinese are going to touch back to China. She had no answer.

I asked her staffer if the illegal Chinese are going to touch back to China. She had no answer.

Very good question Sam.

It also sounds to me like this touch-back provision has the seeds of being unconstitutional on the basis that it does not treat all "people" [Illegal Aliens] from different places equally.

People from places like China and even India - which has been known to drag it's feet in repatriating it's illegal aliens to be removed - will probably just face getting a 'pass' with respect to that idea. How about the ones that actually do 'go home' to try to come back the correct way? The touch-back idea is certainly not fair to them.

Kay Bailey Hutchison is in la-la land if she thinks that doing the Texas two-step out and and then back into the country is going to prevent people from calling this AMNESTY. The woman is just plain daffy.

This bill is AMNESTY - it gives illegals exactly what they came here for - to stay here and work for as long as they like. Come on Kay, stop playing your stupid games.

The woman is just plain daffy.

Aww, KATE.........I think the woman is DESPERATE
{besides the 'daffy' part, lol}

illegal immigrants in the U.S. with no criminal record

They are all criminals. They broke the law when they illegally entered, when they got a job here, when they used forged or faudulent documents to get that job and when they drive without a license. All of them are serial criminals.