White House to reveal immigration proposal tomorrow (amnesty alert)
Liberty Post
10/17/2005

WASHINGTON -- White House proposals for overhauling immigration laws are expected to be unveiled Tuesday when two Cabinet secretaries appear before a committee considering legislation to reform the system.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Labor Secretary Elaine Chao are scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

They will discuss proposals to bolster border security and create a guest-worker program.

Despite a legislative agenda dominated by hurricane relief and the Iraq war, the White House said immigration reform remains a priority for President Bush.

"We need to continue to take steps to strengthen our border and improve the interior enforcement of our immigration laws," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.

"And we plan to move forward on a temporary worker program," McClellan said.

The president's call for a guest worker program has received little support from conservative Republicans in Congress, who call it an amnesty program for those who have entered the country illegally.

However, the Judiciary Committee is considering two bills that would create guest worker programs, which have bipartisan support and the blessing of business interests.

Bush wants Congress to strengthen border enforcement before it tackles a guest worker program, but the administration has offered few details about what it wants in an immigration reform bill.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said last week it was unlikely the Senate could juggle the crowded legislative calendar and pass before the end of the year an immigration bill that includes a guest worker provision.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, chairman of the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on immigration, suggested it would be next year before a complete reform bill is taken up by the Senate.

Nonetheless, the Judiciary Committee is moving ahead with its proposals to add manpower to the Southwest border, improve equipment and build more detention beds.

That approach is favored by House Republican leaders, like Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, who have asked the Bush administration to forego its push for a guest worker program until the federal government can fully protect the borders.

The split among Republicans over immigration has put that party at a crossroads, analysts said Monday.

A poll Monday showed that 78 percent of 800 likely GOP voters support earned legalization for undocumented immigrants over an enforcement only approach.

"Republican voters strongly favor a comprehensive immigration reform plan that combines the stick of tighter borders and tougher enforcement with the carrot of a path to citizenship through an earned legalization process," said Ed Goeas with the Tarrance Group, a GOP polling firm.

The Republican Party is at a turning point on immigration, said Tamar Jacoby, a senior fellow with the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research.

Jacoby said the poll "shows that Republican voters see the hardliners' tough talk for the posturing it is and side with the reformers."

"Republican voters understand that enforcement alone will not fix the broken status quo, and they are demanding that the party step up to the plate with a solution worthy of the name," she said.

Cornyn and Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., have proposed an overhaul of immigration laws that would add 10,000 new Border Patrol agents and 1,000 customs inspectors over the next 10 years.

The bill also includes a guest worker provision, but would require undocumented immigrants to return to their country of origin to apply for the program - a requirement that has been criticized as unworkable.

Another bill by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., would allow undocumented workers in this country to participate in a guest worker program after paying fines for illegal entry. Guest workers could also apply for permanent citizenship.

The McCain-Kennedy bill has received bipartisan support and an endorsement of minority rights groups urging Congress to streamline immigration laws to better accommodate economic immigrants.

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