Immigration bill negotiations turn to funding

To try to appease critics of the controversial Senate immigration bill, supporters worked Wednesday to find ways to guarantee money for stepped-up border security and work-site enforcement.

The idea, raised Tuesday when President Bush visited the Capitol to urge Republicans to support the bill, is aimed at conservative lawmakers and an American public that does not trust the federal government to protect the border or prosecute firms that hire workers illegally.

“If that’s what it takes to persuade the American people and in turn the reluctant members, that’s something that’s on the table,” said Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), a key supporter of the bill.

Senators also moved toward a deal on the number of amendments Republicans and Democrats would be allowed to offer, part of the continuing negotiations over how to revive the bill, which was abruptly scuttled last week.

Serious challenges remain. Republican critics of the bill complain that it is being shaped behind closed doors by just a few senators. The new amendments under discussion from both Democrats and Republicans could further erode support. And, though the lawmakers and administration officials confer constantly, from early morning conference calls to meetings throughout the day, the Senate’s packed summer schedule means time is short.

Even so, the chief Democratic force behind the bill, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, said the group was making progress.

“It may be on life support, but it’s still alive and well,” he said. “Many of us are committed to dealing with this before the Fourth of July recess.”

The bill requires improvements in border security and work-site enforcement to be made first. It would provide a temporary-worker program and a way for most illegal immigrants to become citizens. It would also restructure future immigration to reduce the emphasis on family ties and admit more immigrants based on their skills and education.

A conflict over amendments angered many lawmakers before Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) pulled the bill from the Senate floor last week after it failed a key vote. Lawmakers are now discussing which ones to accept, with each side expected to get about a dozen.

The list is likely to include one by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) that would require all illegal immigrants to leave the country and re-enter legally within two years of receiving legal status with a “Z visa.” As written, the bill would only require household heads to go, and only if they were going to give up their Z visa and apply for permanent legal status.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), one of the bill’s detractors, appealed to Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Wednesday to consider some of his amendments. In a letter, Cornyn wrote that the bill could benefit from “more sunshine, public scrutiny, and a full and fair debate.”

Cornyn indicated separately that he was skeptical about the idea of special funding for border security. “I don’t think it’s enough, but it would help,” he said.

Kennedy and other lawmakers said they had not decided how to structure that funding. One possibility would be to include a mandatory spending measure within the bill itself, which “gets tricky,” Kennedy said. Another option would be to have a supplemental spending bill, which the president would request and which Specter called “a more likely approach.”

--

nicole.gaouette@latimes.com