Senate pursuing an immigration solution

WASHINGTON — Congressional efforts to revamp the nation's immigration laws are hung up on what Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., calls "the real enchilada" — what to do with the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants already living inside U.S. borders.

Despite weeks of intense work on an immigration overhaul, leading senators are no closer to figuring out the solution. And lawmakers in the House largely have avoided the issue altogether by passing a get-tough bill that focuses on securing the nation's borders.

"This is a really tough political issue," said Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan. "It's also one of those issues that (provokes) such a visceral reaction" in people.

The debate is polarizing, said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

On one side are lawmakers "who want everyone to be citizens tomorrow," Graham said. "And there are people who want to put the 12 million . . . on a bus" and ship them back to their home countries.

"Neither one is going to happen," Graham added. "There is nothing a U.S. senator can do to please everyone on this issue."

President Bush's solution is creation of a new visa that illegal immigrants and foreigners could use to temporarily work in jobs that U.S. employers have trouble filling with Americans.

But Bush did not say how wide open the guestworker program should be for undocumented workers already living in the United States — and what hurdles they first would have to clear to participate.

Bush encouraged lawmakers to fight it out on Capitol Hill, but the struggle shows no signs of ending soon. Senators are still unable to agree on the parameters for Bush's broad initiative. With the Senate set to begin debating immigration legislation March 28, prospects for a comprehensive solution have dimmed.

Even those lawmakers that agree they want to create some kind of guestworker program cannot come together on the details. One of the biggest sticking points is whether to require illegal immigrants to return to their home countries before they can apply for the new work visa.

Kennedy and other liberal immigration advocates say that approach will turn off illegal immigrants. Instead of encouraging "them to come out of the shadows," Kennedy said, requiring illegal immigrants to return to their home countries will drive them further underground.

The other big question is how easy to make it for illegal immigrants to become citizens after working under the temporary visa.