A Bill Worth a Cheer Not a Veto : Congress is doing good work on immigration

The sweeping immigration reform bill hammered out by Senate and House negotiators is a very good, though not perfect, piece of legislation. It could hardly be otherwise, as few issues of federal policy are quite so inherently political or inevitably involve so many emotional compromises. In this instance though, the balance struck is firmly on the side of greater openness, equity and sensible economics.

For those reasons, President Bush, who threatened to veto the House version should refrain from quibbling and sign this measure into law.

The congressional conferees sought to preserve the current law’s emphasis on unifying families, while providing easier entry for European and African immigrants, particularly those with special job skills. Individuals in these latter groups are virtually locked out under the existing system, a situation which is not only unfair but also detrimental to U.S. economic interests.

The compromise measure promises to serve both these ends. It will allow 700,000 immigrants to enter the country each year from 1992 to 1994. At present, 500,000 are admitted, 85% of them from Asia and Latin America. After 1994, 675,000 individuals will be taken in each year. During the first three years of the program, 520,000 of the visas will go to family members of U.S. residents; 160,000 will go to immigrants with special job skills or talents.

The special needs of two existing groups of highly productive resident aliens also will be addressed. Citizens of El Salvador, unable to return safely to their war-torn homeland, will be allowed to renew their work documents every six months. The estimated 30,000 Irish citizens now living illegally in this country will be granted permanent resident cards under an amnesty program.

The conferees have managed to eliminate from the immigration code many of the most distasteful relics of the McCarthy era’s noxious McCarren Walter Act. Immigrants may no longer be excluded on the basis of their speech, beliefs, associations or sexual preference. And the power to exclude individuals with communicable diseases, including AIDS, will be delegated appropriately to public health officials, not to immigration and naturalization.

Unhappily, the congressional negotiators were forced to accept two dubious provisions: Though he must personally sign every order, the secretary of state still will be permitted to exclude individuals for ideological reasons, if he believes it can be justified by a “compelling” foreign policy interest. History provides ample evidence that this power inevitably will be abused. Similarly, good sense should have prevented the conferees from approving a two-state pilot program that will use drivers licenses as worker authorization documents. Civil libertarians and Latino rights organizations have rightly attacked this proposal as a step toward a national identity card, something which is inimical to the American tradition of individual liberties.

These reservations aside, the immigration reform bill is a principled and responsible compromise and President Bush should sign it into law.