Senate Republicans offer complex compromise on sticky legalization issue.
By Michael Doyle -- Bee Washington Bureau
Published 2:15 am PDT Thursday, April 6, 2006
Story appeared on Page A1 of The Bee
WASHINGTON - After more than a week of frustration and false starts, Senate Republicans late Wednesday pulled together a last-minute immigration compromise proposal they hope will break a congressional logjam by permitting illegal immigrants to seek legal status.
The plan, announced by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, would make it easier for illegal immigrants who have been in the United States at least five years to achieve legal status, and harder for more recent arrivals.
Senate Republicans had worked frantically for two days to build support for the latest proposal - drafted by Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., and Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb.
The details of the proposal are set to be voted on by Friday. A Frist aide told the Los Angeles Times the new proposal proposal had the support of a majority of the chamber's 55 Republicans.
Democrats said Wednesday they needed time to study the plan but suggested they would not move to block its consideration.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, while cautioning that Democrats were still learning the details, offered hope that the GOP compromise could be "something we could all support and move on to complete the bill."
"That would be great, if we could end this very acrimonious week," he said.
The conciliatory language was a break from the hard-core parliamentary maneuvering that until Wednesday night had blocked almost all action.
This morning, at Democrats' insistence, the Senate will first vote on a comprehensive package approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee more than a week ago. The Democrats are all but certain to fall short of the 60 votes needed to end debate on that legislation.
Until the Republicans announced their compromise Wednesday night, today's showdown vote appeared like it could sidetrack the immigration legislation altogether. It remains unclear how the full Senate will greet the latest compromise as the details unfold, though GOP leaders were hopeful they had avoided collapse.
As described by Senate aides Wednesday night, the proposal would put illegal immigrants on two distinct paths to legal U.S. residency. Those who could prove through documents they had been in the United States for at least five years could secure legal status. By paying $2,000 in fines, learning English and paying back taxes, among other steps, they could eventually become U.S. citizens.
Some of the plan resembles the Senate Judiciary Committee bill. The GOP compromise differs, though, in how it treats illegal immigrants who have been in the United States less than five years. They would have to briefly return to a designated port of entry and apply for a new visa. Those in the United States for less than two years would have to leave the country and get in the back of existing lines.
"It sounds like a bizarre invention," said Duane E. Campbell, a veteran of past immigration fights and now a professor of bilingual and multicultural studies at California State University, Sacramento. "I think it's something to say, 'We've got a compromise.' "
Campbell said Wednesday night that crucial details will include whether the immigrants returning to a port of entry will have to wait long for their new visas. At least some Democrats, moreover, have denounced the return requirement as a "bed check" or a dipping of a foot in the Rio Grande.
A more punitive bill passed late last year by the House has sparked street protests across the country, including a massive rally in downtown Los Angeles. More protests are planned for Monday.
Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, appearing at a Capitol news conference Wednesday morning with Sacramento resident Samuel Rodriguez Jr. and other Latino evangelical leaders, said he didn't see merit in the idea of dividing up the illegal immigrant population based on how long they have lived in the United States.
Serious practical questions, including the possibility of rampant document fraud, also are at issue. Still, until Hagel and Martinez weighed in, consensus had proved agonizingly elusive.
The legislation approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee includes stiffer border controls, guest worker programs for both farm and non-farm workers and a legalization path for the estimated 11 million to 12 million illegal immigrants already in the United States. It had not advanced far since the committee passed it March 27.
"In all likelihood, the course we're on is to leave here having accomplished nothing for the American people," a frustrated Frist said late Wednesday afternoon, adding that "the American people have got to be scratching their heads."
Starting March 29, the Senate logged roughly 40 hours of debate on the legislation through early Wednesday evening. There had been little progress.
While at least 100 amendments have been introduced, only three minor provisions have been voted on. Democrats have used parliamentary tools to block votes on anything controversial.
"I strongly urge them to come to a conclusion as quickly as possible and pass a comprehensive bill," President Bush said Wednesday morning.
Senate Republicans have indicated they believe the White House will get more seriously engaged with the legislative details if the Senate and House ever start negotiating with each other.
As for Sacramento's Rodriguez, he said his organization really started getting involved in the immigration debate last year, prompted by some of the rancorous rhetoric coming from the House of Representatives. Latino ministers, he said, have subsequently been preaching on the topic and rallying congregations through other means as well.
Rodriguez also stressed, though, that the Latino evangelical community shares conservatives' hopes for stricter border enforcement, which is a central component of the House and Senate immigration measures. He described the fast-growing Latino voting population as an inherently conservative one.
He was accompanied by, among others, a vice president of the National Association of Evangelicals, which represents 45,000 churches nationwide.
About the writer:
The Bee's Michael Doyle can be reached at (202) 383-0006 or mdoyle@mcclatchydc.com. The Los Angeles Times contributed to this report.
The Rev. Samuel Rodriguez Jr., president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, said Latino evangelical ministers have been preaching on the immigration issue since last year and rallying their congregations through other means as well. He said their participation had been sparked by rancorous debate in the House of Representatives.
Getty Images/Alex Wong
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