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Immigration legislation expected soon from leading conservatives in the Senate would beef up border security and enforcement with more than $1 billion in new technology and facilities, as well as provide new authority to detail and deport illegal immigrants.

Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee Chairman John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., Thursday announced the enforcement provisions of the legislation they are developing, saying any overhaul of the nation's immigration laws will have to include tough border controls and other enforcements.

Cornyn and Kyl also plan to pair those provisions with a guest-worker program under which workers would be granted temporary status to stay in the United States.

"While we are working with all of our colleagues to try to achieve our goal of comprehensive immigration reform, what this first title does is fill a gap that is not filled by any other legislation that has been proposed," Cornyn said. "And that is a serious commitment to enforcement."

The plan calls for $500 million over five years for upgraded technology and new agents to tighten borders, as well as $500 million for new enforcement facilities.

It also grants more authority to the Homeland Security Department to remove illegal immigrants who have been ordered deported, and "clarifies" that state and local authorities have the power to enforce federal immigration laws.

The legislation also would establish an "employment verification system" that employers could use to determine if a worker has the proper legal status for employment, and would devote more resources to cracking down on employers that hire illegal workers.

Some immigrant advocates blasted the announcement, calling the focus on enforcement strategies ineffective.

Angela Kelley, deputy director of the National Immigration Forum, noted that even as resources have increased, illegal immigration has risen during the last decade. "Based on review of Sens. Cornyn and Kyl's outline, they correctly diagnose the need for smart and strong enforcement, but fail to offer a winning solution by relying largely on ineffective and discredited enforcement strategies," she said in a statement.

Cornyn and Kyl's legislation also faces competition with other immigration proposals in the Senate.

Health, Education, Labor and Pensions ranking member Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and others have developed a bipartisan plan that would allow participants in a guest-worker program to ultimately apply for permanent citizenship, unlike the Kyl-Cornyn bill, which would require those workers to return to their home countries.

The senators unveiled the enforcement provisions before a hearing during which business leaders told lawmakers that an overhaul of immigration laws is needed for businesses to meet their future labor needs.

"Businesses want a system that is simple, easy to understand and responsive to their needs, as well as a system that recognizes some of our best workers want to stay and continue contributing to their employers and communities," said U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas Donohue.

COMMENTS

• "Law without force is impotent", quote by Blaise Pascal, a 17th century mathematician and philosopher. Or.."This is a government of laws, not men" by John Adams. Those of us in the active or retired law enforcement business are outraged at the commercial antics generated by the 'global marketplace'advocates, who could care less about America. The only humerous story re this issue concerns a Mexican worker who complained recently. Seems he got a US citizen's job thru NAFTA, then, six months later lost it as the job was outsourced to a Chinese worker in Hong Kong! That says it all, sadly. GovExec.com reader Posted June 3, 2005 10:35 AM
• Hey Gov Exec, why don't you ask DHS what their integrated immigration enforcement strategy looks like? Ever see a deer in the headlights? That's the response you'll get because no such strategy exists. The creation of DHS split up a dysfunctional INS only to make its sub-parts more dysfunctional. There may be something akin to a strategic plan in each of the agencies responsible for immigration enforcement, but nothing to integrate this enforcement. ICE is supposed to be responsible for immigration enforcement in the interior of the United States. Well, you may as well write that part off because unless you define Operation Predator as interior immigration enforcement, there is very little else that resembles immigration enforcement being conducted. Here's a novel idea. How about DHS taking the lead and make all of these spoiled kids play nice in the sandbox together. Develop a plan. Assign roles. And take the lead to do what the American public is demanding. GovExec.com reader Posted June 3, 2005 7:09 AM
• I find it incredible that this article refers to business leaders who want to keep their "best workers" through a guest worker program. They have just openly admitted that they are violating current immigration law by employing these people! The law requires employers to make sure that they are hiring citizens or LEGAL residents of the U.S. Failure to do so can result in civil and criminal penalties. Obviously, the current law is not being enforced, and these so-called business leaders are arrogantly doing what they want to, and hiring whomever they please, while ignoring the laws of our nation. They should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. The fact that they are openly talking like this, without fear of legal consequences, shows how bad things really are. What a disgrace! GovExec.com reader Posted June 2, 2005 12:04 PM