Senate Braces for Bruising Immigration Battle

Senate Democrats and Republicans agree on the key provisions of the immigration bill they are to vote on this week: More Border Patrol agents. Expedited deportations. Stiffer penalties for smugglers and document-forgers.

But as debate on the legislation began Monday, a series of controversial amendments threatens to shatter the harmony and possibly bring on a presidential veto.

“We can expect many amendments . . . and much disagreement,” Sen. Alan K. Simpson (R-Wyo.), the bill’s chief sponsor, said at the outset of debate on Monday. “Republicans will disagree among themselves, I can assure you. Democrats will disagree among themselves, I can assure you.”

The White House, generally supporting the bill as currently written, compares it to the Administration’s own proposals.

But three Cabinet secretaries--Atty. Gen. Janet Reno, Labor Secretary Robert B. Reich and Education Secretary Richard W. Riley--have recommended a veto if senators approve several major changes that will be offered on the Senate floor beginning today.

Chief among them is a proposal to allow states the right to ban public education for illegal immigrant children. The House adopted the proposal when it passed its version of immigration bill last month, prompting veto threats.

Although no senator has come forward with the public schooling amendment, Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole of Kansas, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, endorsed the idea on the campaign trail. Various other senators are considering it.

During last month’s House debate, Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) advocated the public schooling ban. He said it would help put an end to the U.S. role as a magnet for illegal immigrants.

Opponents of the ban say it would put hundreds of thousands of children onto the streets in California alone, and turn educators into surrogate immigration agents. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) called the ban an “attempt to make Uncle Sam the bully in the schoolyard.”

Kennedy intends to offer a controversial amendment of his own--to increase the minimum wage by 90 cents, to $5.15 an hour. Republicans have successfully fought his previous efforts to tack a minimum-wage raise onto other bills.

Simpson will attempt to add to the immigration bill an overhaul in legal immigration, including cuts in the number of family based visas issued.

Previously, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to split legal and illegal immigration into two bills, a move Simpson opposed.

Other contentious issues expected to surface during this week’s debate include:

* An attempt by Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.) to make English the nation’s official language. Supporters say his amendment, which would end the publication of most government documents in other languages, would reinforce the need for immigrants to learn English; opponents say it would discriminate against newcomers.

* An agricultural guest-worker program to allow growers to bring field hands into the United States temporarily to help with harvests. The existing guest-worker program is little used and growers, especially in California, have lobbied hard for legislation that would give them more flexibility.

A similar effort was defeated in the House. Critics argue that it would depress wages and work standards for U.S. farm workers and prompt an increase in illegal immigration.

* Changes in the voter registration law that would require all those registering to prove they were citizens. Critics say the additional requirement would discourage registration by citizens.