House Republicans introduce immigration bill
The measure, a rebuke to Bush, would bar amnesty for illegal immigrants and require legal-status checks for all workers.
By Nicole GaouetteTimes Staff Writer
12:06 PM PDT, June 19, 2007
WASHINGTON — In a sharp rebuke to President Bush, 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."
