Compromise reached on reform legislation

BY GLENN THRUSH AND TOM BRUNE | Newsday Washington Bureau

April 6, 2006

WASHINGTON - Desperate to break the impasse over immigration reform within his own party, Senate majority leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) announced a deal late last night to allow illegal immigrants to stay in the U.S. - but only if they have lived here five years or longer.

The compromise, which would require newer migrants to leave the country before seeking citizenship, mirrors an earlier GOP proposal that received a mostly negative reception from Senate Democrats earlier this week.

The announcement came after a day of partisan bickering when immigration reform teetered on the edge of collapse. Senate Republicans, who have been split over the issue, hope to pass a bill before the Monday deadline Frist set to pass a new border protection measure.

The compromise reportedly contains many of the features of a moderate bill sponsored by Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.). Under that plan, millions of undocumented workers could remain in the U.S. if they paid back taxes and a $2,000 fine, prove they are employed and haven't committed crimes.

Frist, bowing to conservative senators who blasted the McCain-Kennedy bill as amnesty, is proposing virtually the same system for immigrants who have been in the country for five years. But residents who have been here two to five years would have to leave the U.S. for a time and re-enter through a designated point where they would be eligible for a new form of unskilled worker visa.

Illegal immigrants here for less than two years would be disqualified from either option and be required to leave the U.S.

It wasn't immediately clear how the White House or GOP conservatives would react. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a leading opponent of McCain-Kennedy, said he was adopting a wait-and-see attitude until he reviewed the details.

The frantic negotiations were driven by a maneuver by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to force a cloture vote this morning, requiring the Senate to decide whether to end debate and vote on the McCain-Kennedy bill.

As late as yesterday afternoon Frist sounded pessimistic, blaming the Democrats for bottling up Republican amendments by demanding a vote on the bill.

Even as senators bickered, meetings continued among their staffs, aides said. They began yesterday morning when Republican congressional leaders met at the White House with President George W. Bush, who urged the Senate to "get a comprehensive bill."

Off the Senate floor, Hillary Rodham Clinton claimed yesterday that she and her staff might be arrested under a House Republican plan making it a felony to assist illegal immigrants a week after claiming "Jesus himself" might be locked up.

"I realize I would be a criminal, too. My staff would be criminal," said Clinton, speaking before U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Washington.

Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford), co-sponsor of the House bill, has said the felony provision will be removed when it needs to be reconciled with the Senate's bill.

"Sen. Clinton knows that we've never intended to go after priests and nuns, just alien smuggling gangs," he said. "Unless she's a smuggler she's got nothing to worry about."