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House Republicans Introduce Immigration Bill
The measure,
a rebuke to Senate Democrats, would bar amnesty for illegal immigrants and require
legal-status checks for all workers.
WASHINGTON
(By Nicole Gaouette, LATimes)
June 19, 2007 — In a sharp rebuke to Senate
Democrats, House Republicans today introduced their own immigration reform and
border security bill, a tough measure that would bar illegal immigrants from
gaining legal status, require employers to check the legal status of all
workers and make English the nation's official language.
The Secure Borders First Act stresses operational control over the border as
one of its core principles. The bill would reject "amnesty" and insist that
the administration do more to enforce existing laws.
The lawmakers behind the bill also introduced a seven-page resolution
detailing the myriad ways in which they believe the Bush administration and
its predecessors have not only failed to implement immigration laws, but
made it easier for illegal immigrants to live and work in the U.S.
"The federal government has lost credibility with the American people on
immigration," said Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley), who contributed
sections of the bill.
The bill's authors, Reps. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) and Peter King (R-N.Y.),
cast their bill as a challenge to the immigration legislation the Senate is
expected to take up again this week.
King derided the Senate bill as a danger to national security because it
would not secure the borders. He said its provision allowing illegal
immigrants to eventually gain citizenship was "against the wishes of the
American people."
"We want to stop the Senate amnesty bill in its tracks right now," King
said.
House Republicans passed an immigration bill last year that focused solely
on enforcement and included a controversial measure that would have made
felons of all illegal immigrants and those who helped them. That measure,
which is not included in this year's bill, was a driving force in massive
nationwide demonstrations for broader reform that would grant legal status
to illegal immigrants. The sight of foreign flags among the crowds in Los
Angeles, Chicago and other cities hardened the conservatives' resolve.
King said House Republicans were not worried about another round of
demonstrations. "We shouldn't allow policy to be determined by riots," he
said. "We have to do what's right, not by threat of what's happening on the
street."
The new bill addresses major issues in immigration but it also turns a
microscope on smaller issues that particularly frustrate conservatives. It
would ban the use of matricula consular cards, identification cards issued
by Mexican consulates and used by immigrants to open bank accounts or buy
homes. It would make three convictions for drunk driving grounds for
deportation.
The bill would require the deployment of at least 18,000 more border patrol
agents by Dec. 31, 2008. It would also require the full implementation of
US-VISIT, a long-troubled program that is meant to track entries and exits
by land, sea and air.
American citizens would be affected by many of the changes proposed for
workplace enforcement, including the mandatory database checks of employee
eligibility, the creation of tamper-proof birth certificates and a
nationwide electronic system for tracking birth and death records.
Smith said the bill would also allow for greater information sharing among
the Homeland Security Department, the Social Security Administration and the
Treasury Department to identify illegal immigrants. "One of the problems we
have is that databases don't mix," Smith said. "We have to correct that ...
if you're going to have any kind of worker verification program."
Another section would modify an existing guest worker program for
agriculture alone, lowering current pay requirements and no longer
obligating farmers to provide housing for foreign workers. "There's a
consensus that foreign workers are needed in the agriculture sector," said
Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.).
Workers would not be able to bring their family and would not be able to
gain citizenship, and one-quarter of their wages would be held in escrow to
be picked up at the border when they returned home. They could stay for up
to 22 months at a time and could participate repeatedly in the program but
would have to return home between work periods for a duration of one-fifth
the length of their stay in the U.S.
The bill would require the detention and deportation of all gang members.
Currently, gang members are not deportable unless they have committed a
crime. Those from some countries can hold special immigration status, while
others can stay in the U.S. as asylum seekers. The bill would close those
harbors and enable tougher sanctions against gang members by adopting State
Department procedures used against terrorist groups.
"There are 850,000 criminal gang members in the United States," said Rep.
Randy Forbes (R-Va.). "They are the sixth largest army in the world."
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Jon
Garrido, President, The Blue Dogs of the
National Democratic Party
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