The Reagan Administration is seriously considering throwing...

The Reagan Administration is seriously considering throwing its support behind a stripped-down immigration reform bill that would provide only for sanctions against employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens, amnesty for illegals already in the country and money to enforce the measure, the head of the Immigration and Naturalization Service said Wednesday.

Removed from such a core bill would be provisions for temporary agricultural workers and for asylum for political refugees that helped doom the immigration bill sponsored by Sen. Alan K. Simpson (R-Wyo.) and Rep. Romano L. Mazzoli (D-Ky.) last year, Commissioner Alan C. Nelson said in an interview.

Such a streamlined measure likely would draw opposition from such powerful interests as farmers dependent on illegal foreign labor, civil libertarians concerned over the bill’s possible discriminatory effect and regions where there are large numbers of refugees.

Nevertheless, “there are a lot of good arguments toward a stripped down bill,” Nelson said, emphasizing that no decisions have yet been reached. But with Congress preoccupied with the federal budget deficit and tax reform, speedy action will be essential, he said.

“We think the chances of a bill are good, and we hope to move it quickly, building on the time and effort of the past,” he declared.

Two schools of thought are emerging from discussions among proponents of immigration reform both inside and outside the Administration, Nelson said.

One, he said, is to reintroduce the comprehensive Simpson-Mazzoli measure that came close to winning approval from a House-Senate conference committee. The other approach, meanwhile, calls for “getting back to a simplified, basic-issues bill” that would not get mired down in extensive debate, Nelson said.

Such issues as asylum and the temporary workers program then could be handled at first by new INS regulations and perhaps later by additional legislation, he said. Such regulations were being drafted last year but were held up because the Simpson-Mazzoli bill appeared to be moving toward passage.

“We hope in the next month or so to propose regulations” covering these areas, he added.

In some quarters, Nelson said, there is “a lot of feeling” for limiting reform only to punishing those who knowingly hire illegal aliens. Amnesty for illegal aliens--the other key issue in immigration reform--”probably cost more votes (in Congress) than it gained,” he said.

But Nelson, declaring that “there is a fairness, equity aspect to this,” said he supports President Reagan’s position that amnesty and sanctions should be part of any Administration-backed approach. “The scope of it has to be looked at,” he said.

Nelson acknowledged that concern over the costs of any reform remain “paramount” in the Administration. Any federal aid to ease the costs to states should be handled by bloc grants, he advised, rather than any system where the federal government would shoulder all of the burden.

Intense discussions about what approach to adopt will take place over the next month within the Administration and with immigration reform proponents on Capitol Hill, Nelson said. As for his own view, he said he has reached no decision on whether to personally back last year’s comprehensive bill or the stripped-down version.

In the meantime, he said, the INS--thanks to sizable budget increases--is putting into operation “a lot better border capability” on the U.S.-Mexican border, using electronic devices, aircraft and additional border patrol agents in the fight against illegal immigration.

The agency also is seeking to curb the job market for illegal aliens through cooperative programs with employers and organized labor and seeking to keep the illegals off entitlement programs, Nelson said.