Mexico Trucker Online

Immigration bill attacked from left, right

Opposition to an immigration reform bill that would provide a path to citizenship for 12 million undocumented immigrants mounted Friday as lawmakers prepared to debate the legislation in the Senate next week.

Conservatives launched a grassroots lobbying effort against the measure, and immigrant-rights groups denounced provisions that would deny guest workers permanent residency.

The compromise was worked out between the White House and a bipartisan group of lawmakers, but resistance to the bill from the left and the right shows the political difficulties it faces in the Senate.

“It’s an emotional issue,”‘ said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., the chief Democratic architect of the bill, said on CBS’s “The Early Show.”

“People on all sides of the political spectrum have strong ideas,” Kennedy said.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he found portions of the bill troubling, and would seek changes when it reaches the floor.

The fragile coalition of support for the legislation could unravel as political interests begin tinkering with components that brought conservatives, like Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., together with liberals like Kennedy.

Texas Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn, both Republicans, took part in the negotiations, but neither gave the bill an enthusiastic endorsement.

Cornyn said announcing the measure was premature “because specific legislative text has yet to be drafted on a number of key details.”

Hutchison wants input from local officials on border fencing, and she would require all 12 million undocumented immigrants to return home before being granted permanent residency, a position that immigrant groups call “unworkable.”

Under the proposed legislation, only the heads of households would be required to return to their home country – within eight years – before permanent residency is granted.

The bill calls for all undocumented immigrants here illegally to pay a $5,000 fine, learn English and provide proof of employment, when applicable, for a green card.

Some Republican senators have called the bill an “amnesty” for lawbreakers who skirted U.S. immigration laws to work and reside in this country illegally.

And one conservative group circulated a plea for constituents to call their senators and urge them to vote against any bill that provides earned legalization or permanent residency for undocumented immigrants in this country illegally.

Labor and immigrant rights groups said the guest worker provisions would create a subculture of second-class citizens with neither legal protections nor a path to permanent residency.

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said the guest worker plan “would allow employers to import hundreds of thousands of temporary workers every year to perform permanent jobs throughout the economy.”

Hispanic groups said they would work to change provisions that would restructure the legal immigration system and favor educated, highly skilled workers with English proficiency over those seeking to reunite with families.

Conservatives called for those changes to end “chain migration,” but several Democrats said provisions could doom the bill when it comes to vote for final passage.

“I for one cannot settle for something that isn’t responsible, or something that creates a bigger problem than already exists. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it does have to be fair, humane and practical,” said Sen. Robert Menendez, R-N.J.

Cecilia Munoz, National Council of La Raza vice president, said the changes in the legal immigration system represent a “radical” departure.

“It’s not a small matter to dismantle that,” she said.

Nonetheless, La Raza and other immigrant rights groups praised the bipartisan bill as a starting point in negotiations on comprehensive immigration reform.

“It’s terribly important for this legislation to move forward,” Munoz said.