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Posted on Tue, Feb. 28, 2006

Western governors call for guest worker plan, immigration reform

ERICA WERNER
Associated Press

WASHINGTON - The Western Governors Association on Tuesday called on Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform including a temporary guest worker program.

The group that represents 18 western states passed the policy resolution unanimously while meeting at the National Governors Association annual conference. The vote came as the Senate prepares to take up immigration legislation this spring.

The House passed an immigration bill in December that tightened border controls and authorized fencing portions of the border, but did not include a guest worker plan. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., has said Senate legislation will provide a framework for guest worker ideas.

The Western Governors Association's resolution - the group's first attempt to tackle the immigration issue - did not offer details on how the temporary guest worker program would work.

The resolution also calls for building regional federal prisons to house illegal immigrants who commit crimes. States now have to pay much of the cost of jailing criminal aliens.

The resolution also says that the number of employment-based visas should be increased, including the popular H1-B visas that go to high-tech and other skilled workers. It encourages enforcement of existing sanctions on employers for knowingly hired illegal workers but does not advocate new ones.

"When you think about issues that impact the West, this immigration issue is really the top issue right now," said Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, a Democrat, who chairs the Western Governors Association.