http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_3865832

Article Launched: 05/26/2006 12:00:00 AM MDT

Senate OKs bill allowing citizenship
By Gustavo Reveles Acosta / El Paso Times

El Paso immigration leaders -- like elected officials in Washington, D.C. -- have mixed feelings about legislation passed Thursday by the Senate that would bring National Guard soldiers to the border and put millions of undocumented immigrants on the path to citizenship.
In a bipartisan move and on a vote of 62-36, with both Texas senators voting against the bill, the Senate approved the immigration legislation supported by President Bush.

"Not everything on there is good, but some of it does great things for immigrants and migrant workers," said Sister Liliane Alam, the executive director of Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center in El Paso. "It at least would bring some justice to the people that have been working in fear for years in this country."

The Senate's move paves the road for compromise talks with the House of Representatives, which in December passed its own immigration overhaul bill.

The joint Senate conference committee could start meeting after Congress returns from a week-long recess in early June.

Among the provisions in the Senate bill passed Thursday:


The legalization of an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants working in the United States if they pay at least $3,250 in fines and agree to learn English

The proposed deployment of National Guard soldiers to the U.S.-Mexico border

The creation of a temporary agricultural worker plan for 1.5 million people.

The creation of a 370-mile triple-layer fence, as well as 500 miles of vehicle barriers, on the border.

The hiring of 14,000 new Border Patrol agents by 2011.
Some senators, both Democratic and Republican, praised the bill as one that strengthens the border but also shows humanity.

More-conservative legislators said the bill would not secure the border and would create amnesty for undocumented immigrants.

"This bill still is fundamentally flawed," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. "I hope that working together with our colleagues in the House and the conference, we can bridge some of the differences."

Some in the House, including Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, are already saying they will bring about efforts to show Congress is not willing to fully fund efforts to secure the border.

"The Senate's bill is a step in the right direction," said Reyes, "but there will be tough negotiations with the House. I will continue to fight for a bill that includes increased border security, a guest-worker program with a path to earned legalization, and enforcement of employer sanctions."

Reyes, of El Paso, and U.S. Rep. Solomon Ortiz, D-Texas, have introduced amendments to the House border security bill asking for billions of dollars for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection funding.

El Paso Minuteman Bob Masling said he was disappointed with the Senate and called the legislation passed on Thursday "window dressing and political."

"If they were actually serious about securing the border, they would have done something by now," he said. "So far, I see a very weak effort from our lawmakers, and I don't see this bill doing anything but bring problems."

Masling said he especially opposed any measure to legalize undocumented workers and the creation of guest-worker programs.

He said these moves would take jobs from U.S. workers and hurt the welfare system.

"It's depressing to think of the wages American workers are being paid right now because illegal workers are willing to work for nothing," Masling said. "And by giving them amnesty, we are going to bankrupt a welfare system that is already hurting."

Alam disagreed, and said provisions in the Senate bill would instead bring dignity and living wages to workers who take jobs no one wants.

"This is a path to justice ... to humanity," she said. "These workers will no longer be exploited and work for pennies."

Alam said she was not happy about the potential presence of National Guard soldiers in the area, a move local American Civil Liberties Union officials called "militarization of the border."

"These troops will have a negative effect and increase the number of deaths of migrants trying to cross into the United States," said Ray Ybarra of the El Paso chapter of the ACLU. "El Paso, as was shown by the City Council, doesn't want President Bush to bring the war to their back yards. We're a community, not a war zone."

The El Paso City Council unanimously opposed a proposal to bring 6,000 soldiers to guard the border because it "threatens the safety and well being of the residents of our border communities."