Senate Delay Seen as House OKs Alien Bill

Landmark immigration reform legislation breezed through the House on Wednesday, but sponsors feared that a small group of conservatives might try to derail it with a filibuster in the Senate today and that the Reagan Administration’s support for the measure may be wavering.

The House voted 238 to 173 for the compromise package--patched together by congressional negotiators on Tuesday--which offers amnesty to illegal aliens who have been in the country since before Jan. 1, 1982, and imposes sanctions against employers to curb the influx of more.

May Try to Block It

But Sen. Alan K. Simpson (R-Wyo.) said Wednesday that he knew of four colleagues who oppose amnesty who might try to block passage of the measure today as Congress rushes toward adjournment.

“You can bet the same people who would claw your eyes out are still there,” said Simpson, chief Senate sponsor of the bill. To head them off, Simpson late Wednesday filed a motion to curb debate--normally a precautionary move against a filibuster. A vote on the motion could not come before Friday. He described the move as an “insurance policy.”

Earlier, Simpson met with Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III and Budget Director James C. Miller III to discuss concerns they have expressed over the measure and said he plans to go to the White House today to lobby President Reagan personally for his support.

Miller’s office drafted a policy statement stressing that Reagan’s advisers were reserving the right to recommend a veto of the bill, an Administration official said. However, formal release of the statement was delayed until after Simpson’s meeting with Reagan.

“The President himself is going to make the call on this one and it will probably be tomorrow,” the official, who spoke on condition that he not be identified, said Wednesday. “I know there will be some discussions with him about it.”

This official and others said their objections centered around an anti-discrimination provision in the bill named for its sponsor, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.). The Frank amendment forbids employers from discriminating against job applicants merely because they are foreigners. It was modified in the final accord to allow employers to favor a U.S. citizen over a legal alien in hiring if his qualifications are equal to that of the alien job-seeker.

Current law allows an employer to refuse to hire an alien.

‘Further Than Rights Act’

The Frank proposal “goes even further than the Civil Rights Act in terms of breadth of coverage and creating a special protected class,” said Patrick S. Korten, a Justice Department spokesman.

In including the Frank amendment in the final compromise, Korten said legislative negotiators ignored repeated warnings from the Administration that officials found the provisions “extremely troublesome.”

Administration officials also were reported bothered by a section in the bill that establishes a special, accelerated amnesty program for farm workers. Agreement on the program, designed to allay fears of growers that sanctions might strip them of their work forces, broke an impasse that nearly killed the bill late last month. It allows alien farm workers to qualify for temporary residency if they did field work for as little as 90 days in the 12 months ending last May.

Mixed Signals

The Administration has been sending mixed signals over its intentions on the immigration bill. Only last Friday, Meese issued a statement praising the Democratic House for passing its version of the legislation, which included the Frank and farm worker provisions.

And Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Long Beach) said Meese also sent an important message to negotiators to quash fears that the Administration might back down from a key promise to pay up to $4 billion to state and local governments over the next seven years to reimburse them for extra welfare and educational costs associated with the legalization program.

While the final bill received broad bipartisan support in the House, nine California Democrats and four Republicans voted against it. Among the opponents were two Latinos, Reps. Edward R. Roybal (D-Los Angeles) and Matthew G. Martinez (D-Monterey Park). However, Rep. Esteban E. Torres (D-La Puente), another member of the Hispanic Caucus, supported the measure.

Hispanic Caucus Split

Overall, 161 Democrats and 77 Republicans voted for the bill. Opposed were 80 Democrats and 93 Republicans. The Hispanic Caucus was split, with five members voting “yes” and six “no.”

One opponent, Rep. Don Edwards (D-San Jose), said the sanctions provisions were “an invitation to racial discrimination” that would make employers fearful of hiring anyone who appeared to be a foreigner whether they were in the country legally or not.

Many lawmakers who voted for the bill acknowledged its flaws but said that on balance it was a good bill that would free many illegal aliens from the threat of exploitation. “It isn’t the Sistine Chapel, but it isn’t a bad job either,” Lungren said.