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Posted on Wed, Apr. 05, 2006

Senators seek compromise on immigration

BY MICHELLE MITTELSTADT
The Dallas Morning News

WASHINGTON - The Senate moved toward a showdown Thursday over legislation overhauling immigration laws, even as Republicans and Democrats acknowledged they lack the votes to pass the bill as now written.

Senators and their aides negotiated furiously behind the scenes throughout the day and night Wednesday, chasing an as-yet elusive deal that could allow the Senate to adopt a comprehensive bill increasing border security and dealing with an illegal immigrant population that exceeds 11 million.

But absent an 11th-hour breakthrough, Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., warned that any immigration overhaul could die in the Senate.

"We may never see this bill again this year," he warned.

Republicans remained more hopeful.

"There is no such thing in the Senate as do-or-die," said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa. "There's always another day."

The major sticking point remains what to do with the nation's illegal immigrants.

The Judiciary Committee-approved bill now under Senate debate would essentially allow most illegal immigrants to gain a path to eventual citizenship. While legalization has gained near-total support from Democrats, many Republicans have balked at what they call amnesty.

The negotiators' dilemma is how to fashion a deal that would gain GOP support without driving away Democrats - who would provide about 40 of the votes necessary for a legalization proposal.

Republicans are floating a tentative compromise that would treat illegal immigrants differently based on their length of stay. A three-tiered system is envisioned.

Illegal immigrants who arrived after January 2004 (about 2 million people) would be offered no path to legal status. Proponents suggest the newcomers would leave as jobs for illegal workers dry up amid tighter workplace enforcement.

Those who can prove they've been here more than five years would "earn" legalization by working for six years, paying $2,000 in fines and back taxes, undergoing background checks and learning English and civics.

People who have been here more than two years but less than five years would face a more circuitous path to legal residence. They would be required to travel to a port of entry outside the United States to file their paperwork. They could then return with a conditional work permit and apply for a green card - though the 87,000 allotment under consideration for a group about 3-million strong could keep them in the queue for years.

The details of the Senate plan changed daily, if not hourly, as senators and staff roamed from meeting to meeting in the Capitol, under intense pressure to complete a bill before lawmakers begin a two-week recess Monday.

"It's chaos," Specter said.

Hoping to keep the heat on Congress to adopt a legalization plan, immigrant-rights, religious and labor unions, which have dispatched hundreds of thousands of people into the streets in recent weeks, are planning another show of force. Rallies are planned in 63 cities, including Dallas, on Monday. Crowds "in the millions" will turn out, said Jaime Contreras, president of the National Capital Immigrant Coalition, which is coordinating the events. Still other rallies are planned Sunday.

But movement on Capitol Hill is proving elusive.

The Senate back-room talks began in earnest Monday when it became clear that the Judiciary Committee bill lacks the 60 votes necessary to overcome a filibuster by opponents from both parties.

Democrats were invited to the negotiating table for the first time Wednesday - though they made clear they weren't signing onto anything just yet.

"There's been no judgment, no decision, no agreement," said Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy, the Democrats' leading voice on immigration.

Kennedy didn't appear to endorse the Republicans' concept of dealing with illegal immigrants differently based on length of stay. "I don't understand the concept of treating some of them one way and others in another way," he said.

Even as Republicans courted Democrats, they harshly attacked them for refusing to allow votes on amendments Democrats consider harmful.

"The immigration system is broken and yet the Democrats today don't have the courage to address the problem," Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said.


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Dallas Morning News correspondent Sudeep Reddy contributed to this report.