Posted on 03/29/2007 5:12:09 PM PDT by Dubya
A White House plan devised in weeks of closed-door meetings with Republican senators would grant work visas to undocumented immigrants but require them to return home and pay hefty fines to become legal U.S. residents.
The draft immigration legislation is the first stab by the White House and Republican senators to address the presence of 11 million to 12 million illegal immigrants living and working in the country and the reliance by employers on illegal workers.
The White House draft plan was circulating Thursday around Capitol Hill and among groups with an interest in immigration legislation after elements of it were leaked late Wednesday.
Under the plan, undocumented workers could apply for three-year work visas, which the plan dubs "Z" visas. They would be renewable indefinitely but renewal would cost $3,500 each time.
The undocumented workers would have legal status with the visas, but to get a green card, making them legal permanent residents, they'd have to return to their home country, apply at a U.S. embassy or consulate to re-enter legally and pay a $10,000 fine.
The plan also tries to make border security a priority by requiring 18,300 Border Patrol agents and 370 miles of physical fencing be in place, as well as electronic monitoring of the southern border ongoing before a temporary worker program could start.
The plan is far more conservative than the one the Senate approved last year with bipartisan backing and support from President Bush. That plan, whose principal architects were Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., allowed illegal immigrants to stay in the U.S., work and apply to become legal residents after learning English, paying fines and back taxes and clearing a background check.
Critics dismissed that bill as an amnesty.
Supporters of immigration reform say the draft plan shows the White House is serious about getting a bill completed this year. But immigration advocates were disappointed with the product and see it as a step backward.
"For us it's a no go," said Angela Kelley, deputy director of the advocacy group National Immigration Forum.
A plan to make more green cards available to skilled workers by limiting visas for parents, children and siblings of U.S. citizens and one that would prohibit temporary workers from bringing family members is one of the plan's more controversial provisions.
"President Bush said family values don't stop at the Rio Grande. Evidently they do," said Kevin Appleby, director of Migration and Refugee Policy for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Kennedy appeared at a news conference in support of immigration reform with evangelical leaders, including Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty. The leaders said they plan to exhort their congregations to push lawmakers and take other steps to get an immigration reform bill passed.
Family unification, said Kennedy, "has been an essential aspect of immigration policy since the history of this country" and letting immigrants work their way toward legalization is a framework for previous immigration bills that has received substantial support.
"You don't compromise on the morality of these issues," Kennedy said. "We're not going to."
But Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said he favored gearing immigration toward the higher skilled and educated who he said would help the country.
The immigration plan is the result of about a month of meetings among White House officials, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and Republican senators.
Democrats recognize they need Republican support to get an immigration bill passed this year and have been counting on Bush to deliver Republican votes.
A House bill introduced last week by Reps. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., and Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., also attempts to appeal to conservatives.
It provides six-year work visas to undocumented immigrants and requires them at some point during that period to exit the country and re-enter using their work visa.
I know. I love Scottsdale. Hopefully, the cost of living will keep most of them out of there.
"I know. I love Scottsdale. Hopefully, the cost of living will keep most of them out of there"
I sold my home in Malibu : )
The cost of living keeps the guns in, and the scum out : )
This is an example of possible well meaning Christians thinking with their emotions and throwing away their brains. They are senseless. They are acting out of guilt or ignorance. It is not Christian or Biblical to destroy ones house,, or your neighbors house for that matter, to appease law breakers. Laws matter to God. It is not against the Bible to have a process. When Jesus fed the multitudes he had order. He had people sit down in numbered groups of 50's and hundreds. This is insane.
It's a good thing you were able to get out of there now. I used to love CA, but it's just crazy to go out there now. They don't want me to carry a gun, but I'm going to take it every time I go. I'm not about to travel alone with no gun.
The cost of living keeps the guns in, and the scum out : )
You're living in a dream come true. That's a good place to be. :o)
I have to admit, Scottsdale is where the liberals are afraid to speak out : )
What a change from West L A!
Personally, I'd want to see all immigration quotas directly dependent on enforcement. For example, the number of temporary visas issued should directly correspond to the number of border agents hired and deployed, and the number of successful immigration raids and deportations carried out within the country.
JMHO.
You're gonna make me want to move to Scottsdale if you keep talking like that. LOL! How nice it would be not having to deal with liberals. Our RAT governor has turned NM into a haven for illegals, with his blessings!
What a change from West L A!
No kidding! I feel bad for those folks who are trapped in that liberal/illegal hell hole. I would not live there for any amount of money.
Well, if you ever want to move here, I will "steal" a house for you. That is within my area of expertise.
Of course it is. Whoever has the guns can "steal" anything they want. LOL! That's why I love men with guns. LOL!
We are passable : )
Freepmail coming!
I hope you know I was just being silly. I appreciate the offer. If I should decide to move down there, I will take you up on your kind offer. :o) I do love the area and not having any liberals around would be great. :o)
How right you are, but you know businesses will never let this happen on any kind of meaningful scale. If they didn't have jobs, they wouldn't be here.
The businesses who hire them illegally should have to foot the bill to feed and educate their families who are currently driving my property taxes up year after year while simultaneously degrading my way of life.
Oh, yes, and they should have to teach them survival English, too. If I hear "Press one for English" on a customer service call, I blow a gasket.
"The businesses who hire them illegally should have to foot the bill to feed and educate their families who are currently driving my property taxes up year after year while simultaneously degrading my way of life"
Amen to that!
Id classify my position as a middle ground. I think there will be enforcement but the guest worker program will allow in so many workers (from south of the border only, rest of world out of luck) that none need to jump the border making enforcement almost unnecessary. In short the laws will be enforced but very few to enforce them on.
Understood, and that is a modification you can work with the WH on . . . perhaps a maximum guest worker total allowed in any given year. That, plus the extra border patrolmen plus Congress fully funding the fence as specified, and you have something that can be worked with.
But if folks just say they believe nothing, then they should have no interest in the goings on legislatively.
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