Immigration bill approved by Senate Judiciary

Date: Monday, March 27, 2006 7:09 PM

JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER

March 27, 2006 No. 1446

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved an immigration bill by a 12-6 vote.
News is very sketchy at the moment about what is in the bill, but Dan Stein
at FAIRUS put a small blurb on steinreport.com that the bill adopted the
guest-worker provisions of the McCain/Kennedy bill.

Perhaps some of you have forgotten about the McCain/Kennedy bill. You can
go to the newsletter archive to refresh your memory, and by using the
search word "McKennedy" you can find enough to do a lot of reading. Since I
have no details on this bill it's probably not fair to comment, except to
say that the McKennedy bill will make H-1B a moot issue since it will allow
for the importation of far more skilled immigrants than H-1B does. It's
fair to say that the McCain/Kennedy bill is the largest guest-worker bill
in the history of mankind. The first year it will allow about 400,000
guest-workers to get visas and the numbers will be increased dramatically
each year.

In the Senate there is very broad support the McCain/Kennedy bill, so
expect the Judiciary proposal to be passed quickly. They may put it up to
the Senate for a vote this week. This quote from Kennedy hints that the
guest-worker provisions in the bill remain intact:

"All Americans wanted fairness and they got it this evening,"
said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass.

I'll pass along more info as it becomes available.

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http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/politics/14200026.htm

Posted on Mon, Mar. 27, 2006

Senate panel approves immigration bill

DAVID ESPO
Associated Press

WASHINGTON - The Senate Judiciary Committee approved sweeping election-year
legislation Monday that clears the way for 11 million illegal aliens to
seek U.S. citizenship, a victory for demonstrators who had spilled into the
streets by the hundreds of thousands demanding better treatment for
immigrants.

With a bipartisan coalition in control, the committee also voted down
proposed criminal penalties on immigrants found to be in the country
illegally. It approved a new temporary program allowing entry for 1.5
million workers seeking jobs in the agriculture industry.

"All Americans wanted fairness and they got it this evening," said Sen.
Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., who played a pivotal role in drafting the
legislation.

There was no immediate reaction from the White House, and Sen. Lindsey
Graham, R-S.C. said he hoped President Bush would participate in efforts to
fashion consensus legislation. "The only thing that's off the table is
inaction," said Graham, who voted for the committee bill.

The 12-6 vote broke down along unusual lines, with a majority of the
panel's Republicans opposed to the measure even though their party controls
the Senate.

Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., seeking re-election this fall in his border state,
sought repeatedly to insert tougher provisions into the legislation, but
was generally rebuffed. "This has been a very, very important and historic
debate," he said.

Committee chairman Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania was one of four
Republicans to support the bill, but he signaled strongly that some of the
more controversial provisions could well be changed when the measure
reaches the Senate floor. That is "very frequently" the case when efforts
to reach a broad bipartisan compromise falter, he noted.

Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn. had originally said debate on the issue
would begin Tuesday, but an aide said those plans had changed.

In general, the bill is designed to strengthen enforcement of U.S. borders,
regulate the flow into the country of so-called guest workers and determine
the legal future of the estimated 11 million immigrants living in the
United States illegally.

The bill would double the Border Patrol and authorizes a "virtual wall" of
unmanned vehicles, cameras and censors to monitor the U.S.-Mexico border.

It also allows more visas for nurses and agriculture workers, and shelters
humanitarian organizations from prosecution if they provide non-emergency
assistance to illegal residents.

The most controversial provision would permit illegal aliens currently in
the country to apply for citizenship without first having to return home.

"Well over 60 percent of Americans in all the polls I see think it's OK to
have temporary workers, but you do not have to make them citizens," said
Kyl, who is seeking re-election this fall.

"We have a fundamental difference between the way you look at them and the
way I look at them," Kennedy observed later.

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