Menendez opposes deal

Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 05/18/07
GANNETT NEWS SERVICE

WASHINGTON — Sen. Robert Menendez, the New Jersey Democrat who was a leading negotiator on immigration reform, opposed the deal the White House and Senate Democrats and Republicans announced Thursday.[/b]

Though the agreement is being hailed as the best way forward on fixing the system and tackling the contentious issue of what to do about an estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants in this country, Menendez said on the Senate floor that the deal is "far more impractical, far more partisan and far more cynical" than what he could support.

Menendez, the son of Cuban immigrants, said the deal would make it extremely hard for immigrants to reunite with their loved ones, create a short-term guest worker program, and require illegal immigrants to pay exorbitant amounts of money to become legal U.S. residents.

A Senate-approved bill he supported last year was a lot more reasonable, he said.

http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/articl ... 7705180415