House GOP Not Budging on Border

House Republican leaders Tuesday resisted the latest White House effort to move beyond the enforcement-only approach they have taken in rewriting immigration laws, emerging from a meeting with President Bush emphasizing their continued opposition to the broader approach the Senate is taking.

“The basic difference of opinion that we have seen on this issue between the House and Senate and the White House is real, it is honest, and it was exhibited at this meeting,” House Majority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) said.

His comments came as the Senate worked toward a final vote -- expected Thursday -- on its immigration bill. The remarks underscored that the divide between the two chambers would be difficult for legislators to bridge.

The House passed a bill several months ago that focused solely on improving border security and cracking down on the employment of illegal immigrants. The Senate has crafted a measure that, along with heightened enforcement measures, would establish a guest worker program and open a route to citizenship for most of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S.

Despite the spotlight the congressional debate has thrown on the immigration issue, the clash could mean that no measure will emerge for Bush to sign into law.

Illustrating that growing concern, senators who back a broad overhaul said they were worried that an informal House policy could thwart the push for a compromise bill.

In the past, House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) has blocked bills from coming to the chamber’s floor unless they were supported by a majority of Republicans. He has reiterated that he plans to follow the so-called majority of the majority guideline for immigration legislation.

As a result, a compromise that attracted enough backing from a combination of Republicans and Democrats to pass the 435-member House would be kept from the floor if it lacked the support of more than half of the chamber’s 231 GOP lawmakers.

“If Speaker Hastert insists on the ‘majority of the majority,’ [immigration reform] is dead,” Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) said Tuesday.

Like Boehner, Hastert gave little sign that he would be amenable to a final bill that included the Senate’s push for legalization provisions for illegal immigrants.

When asked after the White House meeting if he viewed those provisions as a “nonstarter,” Hastert replied, “I think the first thing we need to do is secure the borders.”

Republican senators who support the broad approach to altering immigration policy said failure to produce a final bill could hurt the party politically -- especially in light of Bush’s drive for such reforms.

“I don’t want my own party to marginalize the president on an issue of great national importance,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said.

“Much is at stake for our party. We have the White House, we have the Senate and we have the House. If we can’t solve this problem because it’s politically too hard for us, people are going to turn to another group to solve this problem.”

Amid the discord, however, there was an indication that some House Republicans were willing to explore finding common ground with the Senate.

Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), leader of a House conservative faction, unveiled a plan that would create a guest worker program that potentially could include illegal immigrants currently in the U.S.

It would require them to briefly return to their home countries to be part of the program, but it also would allow them to seek permanent legal resident status -- a step to U.S. citizenship -- after six years.

Pence emphasized that, like many House Republicans, he viewed the legalization provisions in the Senate bill as amnesty for illegal immigrants.

Senators, including many Republicans, who support their chamber’s bill refer to the provisions as “earned legalization.” They argue it is not amnesty because to gain citizenship illegal immigrants would be required to pay a fine and back taxes, along with meeting other requirements.

But Pence, in a speech to a conservative think tank, said that allowing “12 million illegal aliens to stay in our country instead of leaving and coming back legally is amnesty, no matter if fines or back taxes are paid, or how it is otherwise dressed up or spun by its proponents.”

As he detailed his plan, however, Pence said, “It is not logistically possible to round up 12 million illegal aliens, put them on buses and conduct a mass deportation.”

It also is not realistic to think, he said, that some American businesses can operate without those workers.

Under his proposal, illegal immigrants would be required to leave the country to get a guest worker visa. They would be processed through placement centers, or what he called “Ellis Island centers,” run by private U.S. firms.

Pence said the process could be completed within a week, causing minimal disruption to the immigrants and their employers. Applicants would have to go through background checks. Visas for the program would be renewable three times, for a total of six years, but only if applicants passed an English proficiency test after the first two years.

“After the third term, they have to apply for permanent legal residence or leave,” said Matt Lloyd, a spokesman for Pence.

The bill would incorporate all the enforcement provisions in the House bill, which includes construction of 700 miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Lloyd said Pence had spoken about his proposal with Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.), author of the House bill, and the White House.

“They basically told us they’re considering it, they haven’t shut the door on it, which we think is encouraging,” Lloyd said.

But the plan met immediate resistance from Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), leader of House Republicans who oppose moves toward legalizing undocumented immigrants.

“Mike Pence is making the same mistakes that the president has -- using the straw man of mass deportations and redefining amnesty to suit his interests,” Tancredo said.

He added that he was baffled by Pence’s shift from an enforcement-only position.

Boehner described the Pence proposal as one of several efforts likely in the weeks ahead aimed at finding a compromise between the Senate and House.

“I would suspect that this is one of many things that will be floated,” Boehner said. “I do not underestimate the difficulty in trying to come to some agreement, but I am hopeful that we will be able to come to some agreement.”

The Senate, in its debate Tuesday, continued efforts to reshape its bill in ways that could make the measure more appealing to House members.

On a 58-40 vote, senators approved an amendment that would require employers to check Social Security numbers and the immigration status of all new hires through an electronic screening system administered by the federal government.

The measure also would double fines -- to $20,000 -- for employers who hired illegal immigrants, and would send repeat offenders to jail.

California’s Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer supported the measure.

Also Tuesday, the Senate defeated an amendment offered by Feinstein that, through the creation of what she termed an “orange card,” would have allowed all illegal immigrants now in the U.S. to gain legal status. The vote against it was 61 to 37.

Feinstein argued her plan would be simpler and less prone to fraud than the bill’s current provisions, under which illegal immigrants in the U.S. for fewer than two years would be ineligible for legalization.

Several senators who voted against the amendment did not disagree with Feinstein, but they said enlarging the bill’s legalization provisions could lead to its defeat.

“This legislation is on the edge of the ledge as it is,” Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) said.

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Times staff writer Maura Reynolds contributed to this report.