Senate Strikes Deal on Immigration Issues
By SUZANNE GAMBOA
WASHINGTON (AP) - Senate Republicans and Democrats worked out a deal Friday on how to handle immigration issues attached to a measure paying for U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The immigration measures spilled into the Senate's debate over an $80.6 billion military spending bill after the House included measures in its version to deny driver's licenses to illegal immigrants and make it harder for foreigners to stay in the United States on claims of asylum.
Under the deal, the Senate will vote Tuesday on three immigration measures. Each would require 60 votes to survive, including one sponsored by Democrat Sen. Barbara Mikulski that would give temporary visas to migrant crab pickers and oyster shuckers in time for Maryland's seafood season.
Another by Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, would provide workers for the agricultural industry. It has support from growers and farm worker advocates, but it faces opposition for providing legal status to some workers.
Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., said he opposes using the military spending bill to address immigration, but he is proposing an alternative to Craig's measure. Co-sponsored by Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz, it doesn't include the legal residency provision.
``While reforms are needed to provide a legal way to meet our agricultural labor needs, we must also remove incentives for illegal immigration and put stricter provisions in place for seasonal workers coming across our borders,'' Chambliss said.
Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., the White House and other Republicans had pleaded with senators to keep immigration off the spending bill and address them later in comprehensive immigration legislation.
Democrats refused, saying it was because Frist wouldn't commit to opposing the immigration provisions in the House version when negotiators try to blend the two.
``The only reason we have these Democrat and Republican amendments dealing with immigration is because it was placed in the bill by the Republicans,'' said Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada. He said the immigration bills being offered are a ``tiny speck'' of the immigration problems the country faces.
Mikulski defended her measure to provide Maryland seafood processors and other businesses with more seasonal workers hired through the H2B visa program, saying ``the cat was already out of the bag on immigration.'' Businesses are limited to 66,000 H2B workers a year, and that ceiling was reached Jan. 3.
``Republican leadership has been stalling on this bill by not allowing votes on amendments like mine. I have brought people to the table to vote on this because Maryland's small businesses need help now,'' Mikulski said.
The House's Iraq spending bill includes the immigration measures its Judiciary Committee chairman, Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., wanted in the intelligence reorganization bill President Bush signed in December. He withdrew the provisions back then after House and Senate leaders promised he could attach them to the first major legislation likely to make it to Bush's desk.
They are almost universally opposed by Senate Democrats but also by state motor vehicle commissioners, some GOP senators and religious groups who say people fleeing persecution would be harmed.
On the Net:
U.S. Senate:
http://www.senate.gov
04/15/05 19:12
