|
Senator Kay Baily Hutchison and Congressman Mike Pence has a proposal for both bodies in Congress to consider as a starting point in the immigration debate:
In one potentially key development Tuesday, two opponents of the Senate bill, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) and Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), unveiled a proposal meant to pave the way for a compromise.
Their plan would open a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, but only after U.S. borders were declared sufficiently secure. At that point, illegal immigrants would be required to leave the U.S. to be processed for work visas before returning to the country. After 17 years, they would be eligible for citizenship.
I think there's more room for compromise with advocates of quicker regularization, and for the particulars of the registration process. But this is the core of a solution.
Senators Kyl and Cornyn are also pushing forward a common sense funding plan for border security:
The Hutchison-Pence proposal came a day after two conservative Republican senators from border states recommended that Bush request more than $3.5 billion in emergency funding for security provisions, including fences along the Mexico border. The two lawmakers, John Cornyn of Texas and John Kyl of Arizona, said the money request would be a "credibility-building measure."
"The logjam between the House and the Senate is not going to be broken until constituents … are convinced that we mean business" on the enforcement front, Kyl said.
Cornyn predicted that passage of the funding request would make House members "more likely to support comprehensive immigration reform."
Finally, common sense that begins with border security and the recognition that after a big fence is up, a wide gate can be opened to the people already here. A guest worker program with a sunset provision is the last major hurdle to cross.
|