http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4807574.html

May 16, 2007, 2:49AM
Senate negotiators unable to reach immigration deal
Stalemate could force a vote to take up legislation from last year




By MICHELLE MITTELSTADT
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats and Republicans struggled Tuesday to strike a deal to overhaul the U.S. immigration system before a showdown vote today.

Compromise proved elusive for the dozen or so negotiators working behind closed doors to bridge major philosophical differences over a guest worker program and what type of immigrants to admit to the United States in the future.

"The problem is everything is linked to everything else, so until we have a deal on everything there is no deal on anything," said Sen. John Cornyn, one of the negotiators along with fellow Texas Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., set today as the deadline to compromise or vote to take up the comprehensive immigration legislation that passed the Senate last year only to founder in the House.

By nightfall, a leading negotiator, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said no deal would be struck by Reid's deadline.

Still, he said: "I'm optimistic that we are going to get a bill."

Republicans threatened to block last year's bill, saying the talks should be given more time rather than taking up a measure that both parties say is flawed.

Fearful that Democrats would seek to paint Republicans as obstructionists if they blocked debate, GOP leaders were examining their options for moving ahead.

Hutchison, the fourth-ranking Senate Republican, has readied an alternative that she will offer only if the negotiations fail and senators deadlock over last year's bill. While she said her preference would be to obtain a bipartisan compromise, she said it is essential for Republicans to outline their vision if talks break down.


Guest worker proposal
"Depending on how things unfold in the next 24, 48 hours, we are ready to go because I don't want to be considered anti-reform," Hutchison said. "I am for reform, but I think a good bill is essential for us to do the right thing for our country and for security."

Hutchison's bill is an adaptation of a plan she offered last year with Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind.

Her newest plan, also crafted with Pence, would create a guest worker program, administered by the private sector, which would not take effect until certain interior and border enforcement goals have been met. The nation's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants could apply for the same visas as future foreign workers.

In a nod to this year's debate, the Hutchison-Pence bill would reorder the legal immigration system away from its underpinnings of family reunification, instead establishing a skills-based system that places more value on foreigners with education, jobs and English skills.

Their bill also would deny Social Security credits for the time immigrants worked in illegal status and would not permit guest workers to accrue permanent Social Security benefits.

Instead, the workers would receive a lump sum payment from their Social Security withholdings when they return to their home country once their visas expire. Their Medicare withholdings would be used to compensate state and local providers for the cost of providing emergency medical services to illegal immigrants.

Last year, Hutchison and Pence received a brief flurry of attention for a plan conservatives touted as a compromise and immigrant-rights groups deemed unworkable. It is unclear how much support their latest version could attract, in part because Hutchison has not widely circulated her proposal during the bipartisan talks.