By JULIANA BARBASSA, Associated Press Writer Mon Apr 10, 3:38 AM ET
Fourth-generation vegetable farmer Will Rousseau keeps one eye on his crops and another on Capitol Hill, where Congress is debating immigration bills that could mean bounty or bust for farms dependent on migrant labor.
Illegal immigrants make up about 53 percent of the nation's roughly 1.8 million farmworkers, and cutting off the flow of willing workers — legal or not — to the fresh fruits and vegetables that need picking would spell the end for many farmers, Rousseau said.
"We know local folks won't take those jobs, at any price," said Rousseau, who hires up to 700 seasonal workers to harvest his crops in Phoenix.
The bills include a House-approved version calling for military enforcement of the border that would make it a felony to be in the country illegally. Rousseau and other farmers believe that would be disastrous for the industry.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, a bill approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee would allow some illegal immigrants to apply for citizenship while expanding an existing but burdensome guest worker program.
Immigration reform expected to take some time A policy expert says it will 'cost billions and take five to 10 years' By PATTY REINERT and GEBE MARTINEZ Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON - When the U.S. Senate returns from spring recess in two weeks, lawmakers will struggle against long odds to hold together a delicate compromise on immigration reform that collapsed last week in a heap of partisan bickering. ADVERTISEMENT
To succeed, they will have to not only resolve sharp political differences but also address concerns that their plan to deal with nearly 12 million immigrants in the country illegally may be impractical and too costly to work.
"As a nation, we seem to be suffering from collective amnesia," said William King Jr., a former Border Patrol agent and regional director for the Immigration and Naturalization Service who tried to implement a landmark amnesty law in 1986 that turned out to be a miserable failure. King said attempts to legalize millions of undocumented workers "have never and will never work."
Others, however, insist the country can still solve its immigration woes. But it will take more than political will.
"It's going to cost billions and take five to 10 years," said Tamar Jacoby, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. "But do we want to get a grip on this or not? I think we do."
On Thursday, senators from both parties rejoiced in announcing a breakthrough on the emotional and divisive issue — a compromise that would toughen border enforcement and put about 10 million illegal immigrants on the road to eventual citizenship.
By nightfall, the plan remained intact, but bickering over floor procedures sank the bill. It now goes back to the Senate Judiciary Committee without a date for full Senate action.
Under the stalled bill, about 1.5 million illegal immigrants who entered the country after January 2004 would be forced to return home within three years. They could then apply for temporary worker visas without a promise of green cards or citizenship.
Those who arrived less than five years ago but before January 2004 — about 3 million people — would have to leave the country but could turn around immediately and be processed at a land port of entry.
Illegal immigrants in this category would have their green card applications placed ahead of future migrants who enter through a temporary worker program. Even so, it would take them about 14 years to gain citizenship after the program is launched.
The remaining 7.5 million illegal immigrants who have been in the country more than five years would not be forced to return home. They would embark on an 11-year citizenship program requiring them to pass background checks, pay fines and back taxes, learn English and meet other requirements.
Critics of the plan say it will create a bureaucratic nightmare for the Department of Homeland Security, which now handles border enforcement and immigration, and divert it from its mission of keeping out foreign terrorists.
Homeland Security would not comment on pending legislation. But Senate aides who have been drafting the immigration bill said their instructions from the agency came down to two points: Keep it as simple as possible, and keep it electronic-based as much as possible.
Even if the Senate compromise can be salvaged, it still would have to be reconciled with a House bill passed in December, which focused on border security and increasing penalties against illegal immigrants and the firms that hire them.
Part of the reason the Senate negotiations broke down is that the bill's sponsors, especially the Democrats, were looking for guarantees that their bill would serve as the framework for the final version. Conservative House leaders have insisted that Congress first approve a border enforcement bill before helping illegal immigrants.
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Houston, the ranking Democrat on the House Immigration Subcommittee, said getting a plan that everyone can agree on — and will actually address the problem — could require a whole new bureaucracy. Congress would have to be willing to increase border security "two- to three-fold," she said.
"I think it's extremely cumbersome," she said, adding that Homeland Security is already overburdened.
Jackson Lee said a comprehensive bill requires a broader debate on the fate of immigrants, the economic impact on businesses and native-born workers, and the viability of the proposed programs. It especially needs stepped-up involvement from the White House, she said.
"All of the conversation and talk (by President Bush) has been just that," she said.
Others predicted the differences on Capitol Hill are so wide that there will not be a final bill during this legislative session.
"I think it's a lead-pipe cinch that nothing will happen," said Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., who wants a border security bill passed before the rest of the immigration system is overhauled.
Still, Jacoby and other experts in favor of a more comprehensive bill said they haven't given up hope.
"If we need half a million (migrant workers), let's allow half a million to come," she said. "Right now, if you are an unskilled Mexican worker with no family ties here, there are only 5,000 visas available. That's not realistic."
Jacoby concedes that true immigration reform, assuming it eventually comes to pass, will be "a big bureaucracy, a big pain in the neck."
"Just shaking hands with 12 million people is a big process," she said. "But if we want to get control of our borders, we have to do it.
"Do we really know we can get control of this? No," she added. "Can we do a lot better? Yes."
HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: National This article is: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/3781488.html
How important is immigration to the business community? Very. On Mar. 16, Bill Gates trekked to Capitol Hill to tell key leaders of both parties that immigration is Microsoft's No. 1 issue in Washington. "If we hope to maintain our economic and intellectual leadership in the U.S., we must renew this commitment," Gates said in an earlier letter to lawmakers. "Unless there is reform, American competitiveness will suffer as other countries benefit from the international talent that U.S. employers cannot hire or retain." Both Sides Now
Gates and his fellow CEOs have good reason to be nervous. Politicians in both parties are seizing on public concern about 12 million illegal immigrants living in the U.S. to craft legislation limiting cross-border mobility for skilled and unskilled workers alike. And while corporations are accustomed to anti-business potshots from the Left, they are now fighting a defensive battle against angry populist Republicans who want to seal the border and punish companies that employ illegals. At the Conservative Political Action Conference in February, Representative Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) won a standing ovation for skewering companies that profit from imported labor. "The conservative movement can either be the voice of principle or it can be the voice of the Chamber of Commerce," Tancredo roared. "But it cannot be both."
Conservative Republicans tweaked their alternative to a bipartisan guest worker proposal for illegal immigrants Wednesday as Democrats pressed for a vote that would put most of those in the U.S. illegally on a path to citizenship. President Bush urged swift action. The latest counterproposal to a bill by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., would base the chance of citizenship for the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. largely on whether or not they were here before a cutoff date. That date has not yet been determined.
Those in the U.S. before the cutoff date, an overwhelming majority, could apply for green cards if they pay fines and back taxes and learn English. Among that group, those who had spent five years in the U.S. would get an easier path to citizenship, with newer arrivals facing more obstacles.
Those who arrived illegally after the cutoff date would be viewed as living here illegally and unlikely to qualify for citizenship while in the country.
Disagreement over providing a path to citizenship for illegal laborers may prevent Republicans from meeting a Friday vote. By Maura Reynolds and Nicole Gaouette Times Staff Writers
WASHINGTON — Facing a self-imposed Friday deadline for reaching agreement on the thorny issue of immigration, GOP senators worked Monday toward a possible compromise that would permit some illegal immigrants to remain in the country and apply for citizenship but would deny that opportunity to others.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) launched what participants said would be a series of closed-door negotiations to bridge a divide between Republicans who favored providing a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants and those who opposed it.
"What we're looking for is a middle ground, something that will appeal to a broader base" in the Republican Party, said Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
