GOP Unveils Revised Immigration Legislation
    By David Espo
    The Associated Press

    Thursday 06 April 2006

    Senate Republicans unveiled revised immigration legislation Wednesday 0anight 0aclearing the way for legal status and eventual citizenship for many of the estimated 0a11 million men, women and children living in the United States unlawfully.

    Majority Leader Bill Frist outlined the proposal after efforts at a bipartisan 0acompromise faltered earlier in the day and the Senate teetered between accomplishment 0aand gridlock on the most sweeping immigration bill in two decades.

    Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid pledged to review the GOP proposal 0aovernight 0ato see whether "it could be something we could all support." 0aThe prospects 0aappeared uncertain, however, since the provisions appeared similar to what he 0aand other Democrats had earlier spurned.

    The fate of the 11 million immigrants living in the U.S. illegally hinged 0aon 0athe outcome of election-year maneuvering on an issue that Sen. John McCain (news, 0abio, voting record), R-Ariz., said had generated an unusual amount of emotion.

    Three thousand miles distant from the Capitol, Cardinal Roger Mahony 0aasked 0aCatholics to pray the Senate passes legislation allowing illegal immigrants 0ato gain citizenship. The Los Angeles-based prelate said the debate marked "one 0aof the most critical weeks in the history of our country."

    Republican officials said the GOP plan would divide illegal immigrants 0ainto 0athree categories:

• Those who had been in the country the longest, more than 0afive years, 0awould not be required to return to their home country before gaining legal status. 0aThey would be subject to several tests, including the payment of fines and back 0ataxes, and be required to submit to a background check, according to these officials.
  
  
• Illegal immigrants in the United States less than five years 0abut more 0athan two would be required to go to a border point of entry, briefly leave and 0athen be readmitted to the United States. As with the longer-term illegal immigrants, 0aother steps would be required for re-entry, after which they could begin seeking 0acitizenship, these officials said.
  
  
• Illegal immigrants in the United States less than two years 0awould be 0arequired to leave the country and join any other foreign residents seeking legal 0aentry.

    The officials who described the proposal did so on condition of anonymity, 0asaying the had not been authorized to pre-empt senators.

    There was no immediate reaction from the White House, although President 0aBush 0ahas repeatedly called for a comprehensive bill that included steps to deal with 0athose living illegally in the country.

    Frist's move cleared the way for a series of test votes over the next 0aday or 0atwo on a pair of rival proposals.

    The first showdown was set for Thursday, on an attempt by Reid and other 0aDemocrats 0ato advance legislation that cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee more than 0aa week ago. While a bipartisan majority supported the bill, it quickly ran into 0atrouble from conservative Republicans, some of whom said it would bestow amnesty 0aon lawbreakers.

    "This is a vote that for millions of Americans is a question 0aabout whose 0aside you're on," said Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the second-ranking 0aDemocrat, adding that unless legislation clears the Senate this week, it may 0abe doomed for the year.

    But it appeared destined to gain far fewer than the 60 votes needed to 0aadvance, 0aand perhaps less than a majority that would give political bragging rights to 0aReid in the event the effort to pass legislation eventually collapses.

    Nor was it clear that Frist would be able to muster 60 votes for his 0arevised 0alegislation. In addition to Democratic critics, he faced potential defections 0afrom some in his own party.

    Sen. John Cornyn (news, bio, voting record) of Texas issued a statement 0alate 0aWednesday that avoided taking a position on the proposal. It said he remains "adamant that we not repeat the mistakes of the 1986 bill, a measure 0awidely 0aviewed as having imposed amnesty on those in the country illegally.

    In general, both of the major alternatives would strengthen border security, 0aregulate the flow of future foreign workers and open the way to citizenship 0afor many immigrants who are in the country illegally.

    As they have for days, Democrats used their rights on the Senate floor 0ato prevent 0avotes on politically difficult amendments. Republicans criticized them but were 0aunable to thwart the strategy.

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