GOP Softens Plan to Bar Illegal Immigrants in Public Schools

Eager to pass an illegal immigration bill before next month’s convention in San Diego, Republicans in the House and Senate forged a fragile compromise Tuesday aimed at softening a proposal to oust illegal immigrant children from public schools.

Instead of allowing states to expel all illegal immigrant children, the proposal allows students now in elementary school to finish the sixth grade. Then they could stay in school only by paying tuition equal to the cost of educating a pupil in that state.

Illegal immigrant students already in Grade 7 or higher when the law is passed would be permitted to complete high school. Illegal immigrant students who changed school districts or attempted to enroll for the first time after the law took effect would be required to pay tuition.

“This compromise takes some of the sting out of the argument that we’re kicking kids out of school,” said a GOP congressional aide close to the negotiations. “We’re serving warning to illegals and giving them a phasing-out period.”

It remained uncertain whether the deal would attract the one additional vote that the congressional Republican majority needs to win approval for the bill in a House-Senate conference committee and to send it back to the House and Senate for final votes. Republicans are putting particular pressure on Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the only Republican on the conference committee to oppose the amendment.

The compromise, while scaling back some of the scope of the original proposal, did little to please immigrant rights advocates and lawmakers in both parties who oppose expelling the children of illegal immigrants from school.

Frank Sharry, executive director of the National Immigration Forum, a coalition of activist groups, complained of “nothing more than cosmetic changes.”

“The result will be the same: Hundreds of thousands of kids will be forced out of school and onto the streets,” Sharry said.

Introduced by California Republican Elton Gallegly of Simi Valley, the public schooling ban has complicated the task of reconciling the House and Senate immigration bills approved earlier this year. The House--with Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) in the lead--overwhelmingly supported Gallegly’s proposal. The Senate, however, opted not to include such a ban, and more than 50 of the 100 senators have signed a letter opposing it.

With the August recess just days away, congressional Republicans have been working feverishly to forge a deal by the end of the week.

“It would be wonderful from a political standpoint to arrive in San Diego with a law in place,” said a Republican staff member. “Whether it’s possible with the little time that’s left, I don’t know.”

Even if the House and Senate did act quickly, President Clinton has indicated that he might veto a bill containing the Gallegly amendment.

A White House spokesman dismissed the compromise proposal as nothing more than a Gallegly “back door” proposal.

Gallegly, who has resisted efforts to compromise on his all-out schooling ban, reluctantly agreed to the new language after meeting with Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah).

“I am very pleased with the agreement we came to, but it’s certainly not everything I wanted,” Gallegly said. He added that he believes illegal immigrants would probably return to their native lands rather than pay tuition, which in California would amount to about $5,000 a year.