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Senators push for immigration compromise By Donna Smith
Sun Apr 29, 11:16 AM ET



Members of a bipartisan group of U.S. senators are pushing to reach agreement on immigration reform that would offer some illegal immigrants a chance to become citizens, and the coming month will prove critical to their efforts.

Lawmakers have been struggling to come up with a formula providing tougher border and workplace enforcement while addressing the status of some 11 million illegal immigrants who live and work in the shadows.

"I am really hopeful we can come up with something we can all live with," said Sen. Mel Martinez (news, bio, voting record), a Florida Republican, who is among a bipartisan group that has been participating in the discussions.

The group is working to meet a mid-May deadline. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (news, bio, voting record), a Nevada Democrat, has set aside the last two weeks of the month for the Senate to debate immigration legislation.

President George W. Bush backs a comprehensive approach but legislation last year that would have created a guest worker program and offered many illegal immigrants a shot at citizenship failed in the face of stiff opposition by a group of Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives.

This year lawmakers are engaging in a delicate balancing act to write a law supported by majority Democrats, who want a path to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants, while satisfying conservative Republicans, like Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl (news, bio, voting record), who do not want amnesty and say they do not want to reward illegal immigrants by giving them an easy path to citizenship.

"Legislative language is being drafted," said Sen. John Cornyn (news, bio, voting record), a Texas Republican. "No one has agreed to anything because we really haven't seen anything in writing."

An aide to Sen. Ted Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat who is a leading player in the negotiations, said progress was being made although there was no agreement yet.

A Senate Republican leadership aide said there were still major sticking points. "The agreement is much further away than has been suggested," the aide said.

COMMON GROUND

Whether a liberal like Kennedy and a conservative like Kyl can agree is unclear. Negotiators have offered few details on the talks and analysts say common ground likely remains elusive.

"There are people in both parties who are not really going to be for the deal," said Tamar Jacoby, an immigration expert with the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research.

"I think I can see a sweet spot. But can they both stretch quite enough to get there, I don't know," said Jacoby.

"There's a lot of good will and determination to get to an agreement, but especially now that they are looking at the details it's pretty difficult," said Angela Kelley, deputy director of the National Immigration Forum, an immigrant advocacy group.

"It's hard to see right now how the dots are going to join up," she said.

The legislation will likely include a path to citizenship for many illegal immigrants who pay fines and meet other qualifications.

Kelley said some progress had been made in addressing the status of illegal immigrants living in the United States. But sticking points remain over concessions for family members seeking to join relatives living stateside and over residency rights for participants in a new guest worker program that would be created.

Activists have called for nationwide demonstrations on Tuesday in support of immigrant rights similar to the huge gatherings that took place in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and other cities a year ago on May 1. But organizers say they expect the turnout to be lower in part because of tougher enforcement by U.S. officials.

"A lot of migrants may be afraid to take part because of the immigration raids in recent months .... there's a lot of fear," said Lizette Olmos of the League of Latin American Citizens.

Others say the turnout is likely to be lower because there has been less attention to the rallies in Spanish language media.

(Additional reporting by Tim Gaynor in Phoenix)

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