Senators alter key parts of immigration bill

WASHINGTON (MCT) — The fragile Senate immigration bill weathered a series of legislative hits Wednesday as senators approved amendments to alter key provisions of the framework for bringing in temporary guest workers and enforcing security along U.S. borders.

But the bill's drafters and supporters warned that too much tweaking may jeopardize bipartisan support for the measure.

The Senate overwhelmingly approved an amendment introduced by Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., that would reduce the number of guest workers allowed into the United States in any year from 400,000 to 200,000, and bar future adjustments in that quota in line with shifting labor demands. The 74-24 approval of the measure, which is similar to a provision attached to last year's Senate bill, followed the Senate's decision Tuesday to dispense with a proposal from Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., that would have killed the guest worker program.

The Senate also approved other amendments, including measures to institute mandatory prison sentences for immigrants who cross the border illegally and raise the bar for security "triggers." As amended, the immigration bill now requires 20,000 instead of 18,000 border patrol troops, 300 rather than 200 miles of virtual fencing along the U.S.-Mexican border and detention facilities for up to 31,500 illegal border crossers, up from 27,500. All of these "triggers" would have to be in place before guest worker visas could be distributed and the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants already in the U.S. legalized.

With dozens of additional amendments expected in the days to come, and rumblings from House leaders that without certain modifications the House might go with its own bill, senators are facing a rocky terrain in trying to pass the legislation.

Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott, R-Miss., said his continued support for an end product was partially dependent on greater commitment from President Bush to preserving the principles of the bipartisan proposal.

"I've urged the president that he's got to be a leveling influence and say, 'I'm not going to sign a bill that makes the current bad situation worse,"' Lott said.

Yet even the bill's supporters restated their intention to stand by the bill for now, remaining optimistic that provisions changed Wednesday could be reworked to preserve the bill later during the Senate debate.

Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., a key negotiator whose support of the legislation is seen as critical to bringing Republicans in the Senate and House on board with comprehensive reform, said reinstating the ability to adjust the number of guest workers would be necessary to keep his vote, and to keep the bill from unraveling.

"I have already taken the political hit" in supporting the comprehensive proposal, he said. "I have already made my decision to support this legislation, and I will support it to the end so long as it is not critically modified."