Posted on 05/23/2007 3:39:07 PM PDT by Republican Red
WASHINGTON — The Senate voted Wednesday to slash the number of foreign workers who could come to the U.S. on temporary visas as part of a broad bipartisan immigration bill.
A new guest worker program would be capped at 200,000 a year under the proposal, which passed 74-24 over strong opposition by the Bush administration.
Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said the change, proposed by Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., would interfere with a "central component" of the White House-backed immigration measure. That plan provided for 400,000 worker visas annually, plus an option to increase that number to 600,000 if market conditions demand it.
"The Bingaman amendment would eliminate this critical flexibility and cut the size of the temporary worker program in half," Gutierrez said in a statement.
His comments came as the administration urged the Senate to approve the immigration legislation despite fresh criticism from presidential hopefuls and lawmakers in both parties.
"The proposal offers a much-needed solution for our nation's broken immigration system," the White House budget office said in a statement. "This proposal would deliver an immigration system that is secure, productive, orderly and fair."
The measure would grant an estimated 12 million unlawful immigrants quick legal status, toughen border security. It also would create a new workplace verification system to bar undocumented workers from getting jobs.
It would set up a point system for future immigration applicants that would place less emphasis on family connections and more on education and skills in demand by U.S. businesses.
Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, a Democratic presidential hopeful, announced plans to challenge the point system, saying it devalued family.
The scheme "constitutes at minimum a radical experiment in social engineering and a departure from our tradition of having family and employers invite immigrants to come," Obama said, adding that he would work to phase it out.
A 2008 rival, New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, said she would seek to lift new caps the measure would place on visas for family members of legal permanent residents.
Republicans sought to respond to conservative critics by trying to bolster security provisions and make it more difficult for illegal immigrants to get on a path to citizenship.
Sen. Lindsey Graham proposed cracking down on illegal border crossers with mandatory prison sentences.
"Everyone needs to know that America is changing its immigration laws. We're going to be serious about enforcing them. If you break our laws, you do so at your own peril, and you will lose your freedom," said Graham, R-S.C.
The Senate was also considering a proposal by Sen. Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, that would allow visas to be revoked without court review.
"Current law allows aliens to run to the steps of our country's courthouses and take advantage of our system," Grassley said. He said potential terrorists could stay in the country unless lawmakers approved his change.
Democrats heard objections from labor unions and immigrant groups about the guest worker program and focused on shrinking or altering it.
The temporary worker plan would bring in laborers to stay for up to three two-year stints, provided they left the United States for a year between each stay. A Democratic attempt to strip the program altogether failed Tuesday in the first major test of the fragile immigration compromise.
The conservatives, liberals and centrists who worked out the deal are struggling to keep it intact.
Senate leaders in both parties, however, say it is important to have a vigorous debate. They have postponed a final vote until June.
Wow! 74-24 is a pretty lopsided defeat. Do you suppose the elites want to appear to pretent they are listening to the sheeple?
Actually does ANYONE really object to the guest worker part of this program? The issues as I zee them are the:
1. Z visas
2. Z visas
3. Z visas
4. Z visas
etc. Rather than cutting the cap on guest workers in half, cuting the number of Z visas in half would be a big step to me. Or even how about doing away with the Z visa program and turning these people into guest workers, which is what they are.
wished the bill were dead. but i’ll take what i can get.
That is what Sessions was happening!
No no no, silly, we can't do that. Something to do with the children, or the poor, or something...
No conservative would touch this "deal." May it die a thousand deaths.
“smoke and mirrors!”
Wooo-hoooo! We’re only a little bit pregnant now!
(and these are the unskilled, illiterate,non-English speaking. Not the skilled we could actually use)
I am pretty sympathetic to immigration reform. I want businesses to be able to get staff without having to beg bums off of welfare. I do not want to see output shrink and consumer prices rise.
So I am not against having guest workers where needed. I do see the worry about having a bunch of people newly on the path to citizenship merely because they were guest workers who ALL identify with another particular country.
The Union leaderships must be riddled with guilt ridden white liberals, otherwise they’d be against this whole thing flat out.
Roll Call link didn’t work - new link
My GA Senators, Chambliss and Isakson actually voted yes on this amendment. Maybe this is a way to kill the bill, amend it to death so no one will like it.
The problem is the public sees a ‘reduction’ from 400,000 to 200,000 ‘guest workers’ and thinks “that’s nice”, believing that is all the ‘guest workers’, visa holders, etc.etc. that we let in. We let in over 2 million legal immigrants every year. 650,000 student visas alone. ALL this is above all the illegal aliens we have and WILL get.
Where is the ammendment to make them pay back taxes if not ALL 100 senators can go scratch
“My GA Senators, Chambliss and Isakson actually voted yes on this amendment.”
Look at the “noes”, almost all Republicans.
The reality is those Republicans aren’t against a slave labor increase, it suits them fine. If Bush gave them a million cheaper labor visas a year and dropped all the amnesty and fake enforcement talk, they would vote for it in a heartbeat.
Do you believe that businesses should pay a fair wage for an honest and legal day’s work?
Will not the law of supply and demand determine a fair wage?
One of the great human failings which got us where we are NOW with this illegal immigration mess is GREED. May we all try to admit it and go about correcting it.
I’m not going to feel sorry for the rich, elite American business owners who may have to dig a little deeper to pay for an American worker.
Things are way out of kilter right now. The pendulum swings, and it will take a while to accomplish fairness and stability.
But we HAVE TO START HERE AND NOW.
It's a Piece of S#*%!
sw
What a load of BS.The government can’t even stop the aliens that are crossing the border now,so they tell us.But we’re to believe they can prevent more than 200000 a year from coming across.What a bunch of dopes.
Through the bums out. Why is it that these elected creeps can break laws left and right and get away with it?Its enough to make me sick.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.