House Passes Bill to Boost Immigration : Congress: The measure would bring in workers and ease obstacles to unite families. The White House favors more modest limits.

The House today approved a major immigration bill designed to bring in skilled workers and unite families, brushing aside Bush Administration concerns that it could produce an overflow of newcomers.

The bill, approved 231 to 192, would increase immigration by an estimated 235,000 a year. A conference committee will now try to resolve differences between the measure and a more modest Senate version.

“This will preserve our heritage of getting the best and the brightest from around the world, and do it in a way that improves rather than threatens our economic security,” said Rep. Bruce A. Morrison (D-Conn.).

The bill would ease obstacles to reunification of families and end 25-year-old barriers against would-be immigrants from northern European countries and others that have traditionally sent people here.

It also would increase the number of highly skilled and otherwise needed foreign-born workers permitted to enter the United States.

The measure is advancing in defiance of a veto threat from the Administration, which says the number of immigrants should be limited to 630,000 annually, the figure in the Senate version. The Senate limit, however, could be exceeded under certain circumstances.

The House would increase the annual influx from the current 540,000 to 775,000 and pare down long waiting lists of spouses and children waiting to reunite with their families in the United States.

Opponents of the bill warned that additional immigrants would strain social services at a higher cost to taxpayers.

“The fact of the matter is we can’t take care of the people we have now,” said Rep. John Bryant (D-Tex.).