Friday, May 13, 2005
Illegal immigrants would be able to freely travel in to and out of the United States for three years.
WASHINGTON POST
WASHINGTON -- A bipartisan bill introduced Thursday in Congress seeks to revise the current immigration system by allowing millions of illegal immigrants in the United States to apply to be temporary guest workers and permit residents of other countries to seek the same status if they can prove that a job is waiting for them.
The new H-5A visa program proposed by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., would allow immigrant workers to leave and enter the United States as they pleased over the three-year life of the temporary visa.
McCain said current immigration policy is "unacceptable," in part because it forces Mexican nationals and others illegally seeking to enter the United States to rely on human smugglers or risk their lives crossing the desert alone. In addition, he said, porous borders are "leaving Americans vulnerable" to terrorism.
Amnesty
The bill almost certainly faces a fight from Republicans who recently rejected amnesty proposals and this week helped win passage of the "Real ID Act," which makes it more difficult for illegal immigrants to obtain federally recognized identification.
Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., a leading proponent of removing illegal immigrants, said the legislation is another form of amnesty. "There might be a little more lipstick on this pig than there was before," he said, "but it is most certainly the same old pig. Time and time again history has shown us that amnesty actually increases illegal immigration."
Under the bill, millions of illegal workers and immigrants who want jobs in the United States could eventually gain citizenship. Illegal workers in the United States would pay $1,000 each to apply for 400,000 annual H-5A visas that would allow them to work for three years. Foreign nationals would pay $500 each and would have to prove that an employer had a job waiting for them. Both would be required to pass a battery of police background and medical checks.
After working for three years, visa-holders could ask for three-year extensions and, in the meantime, apply for green cards. If they continued working, studied English and broke no laws for six years, they could qualify for permanent residency. Ultimately, that could lead to full citizenship. In the meantime, visa-holders could leave and enter the United States legally.