Cannon, a co-sponsor of the bill, said it would grant temporary-worker status to the millions of illegal agricultural workers who are already working on farms throughout the United States but who are reluctant to return to their homes for fear they might not be able to come back to the United States. By being here illegally, they become sucked into illegal activities both as victims and perpetrators.

"We have created a shadow economy where they are pretending to be here legally," Cannon said. "We need an environment where people have jobs and have them legally. They have go back when the job ends, but they can come and go."

Cannon, whose supporters for the AgJobs bill include a diverse mix of lawmakers from Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass, to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., calls it a "come-and-go" economy. Those supporters have also been targeted by immigration opponents.

"Humans are not packaged goods," Nelson insists. "We can't just import them, consume them and then throw them away like we would a refrigerator.

"What Cannon is in essence saying here is that he wants to be sure he's . . . taken care of when he's old, but he's willing to stick the next generation with an even tougher choice of importing even more human labor units, or suffering a worse shortage than we face while having to take care of all the old immigrants who paid in far less to the system because of their menial status," he added.

Cannon said AgJobs is just one piece of a larger immigration policy that must be addressed in a post-9/11 environment. Borders must be tightened up and violators of U.S. immigration policy must be dealt with, he said.

But legal immigration is a good thing, said Cannon, who added he is working with the White House toward a much broader immigration reform package that deals with many different aspects of the issue. If that legislation were to fly, AgJobs would be wrapped into that package.

So could other immigration bills that have lingered before Congress, including provisions whereby children of illegal immigrants could avoid deportation if they were in college and met certain criteria.

"These are the smartest kids we want in our system," Cannon said.

Ongoing debate

Another idea recently endorsed by President Bush is to allow temporary workers to opt out of the Social Security taxes, since they aren't going to get benefits anyway, Cannon said.

But nothing on the immigration agenda includes amnesty for illegal immigrants, Cannon insists. "I'm against amnesty, always have been and always will be," he said.

"He's a liar, and we proved it," Nelson retorts, pointing to studies on his Project USA Web site.

"They can't name any specifics (because) every vote I have taken is pro-enforcement," Cannon said.

He points to his support this session for the Real ID Act, which makes it tougher for illegal immigrants to obtain drivers' licenses.

"I have reservations about the gradual move toward what could become a national ID card, but this legislation begins to address necessary efforts in enforcement," he said last week during floor debate on the bill, which passed the House.

Both sides trot out facts and figures to support their claims. And there is no evidence the tone of the debate will soften.

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E-mail: spang@desnews.com