Immigration compromise posed

Under the plan, workers would have to return home before applying.
MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS
WASHINGTON -- Two Republican lawmakers unveiled on Tuesday what they described as a middle-ground plan to rescue imperiled immigration legislation, calling for a privately managed guest worker program that wouldn't go into effect until after the nation's borders are secured.
Senior lawmakers involved in the immigration debate displayed mixed reactions to the proposal by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas and Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana. Some welcomed it as a constructive step and a possible starting point for fresh discussions, while others suggested that it would have little impact in bridging polarized factions on one of Congress' most volatile issues.
"This is just another idea on the table," said Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois, deputy Democratic leader in the Senate.
Republicans offered a more positive appraisal.
"It's a major step forward in the immigration debate because it presents a new idea that would include comprehensive reform," said Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who's helped lead negotiations aimed at breaking the impasse between the House of Representatives and the Senate. "The idea is very intriguing. It has strong border security safeguards, but it also deals with the economic needs of the nation in terms of immigrant employment."
"It's a contribution to the process," said House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio.
Details
The proposal would require the millions of illegal immigrants now in the United States to return to their home countries before being eligible to participate in the plan under renewable work visas. Those who remain in the program for 17 years could apply for permanent legal residency and citizenship.
The two Republican lawmakers described their proposal as a desperately needed impetus to jump-start negotiations between the House and Senate over sharply different immigration bills.
The House bill advocates an enforcement-only approach to halt the flow of illegal immigrants. The broader, bipartisan Senate bill proposes an automatic path to citizenship for most of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants who have entered the United States over the past two decades. It also proposes a guest worker program designed to give U.S. businesses a steady source of foreign labor to help confront what they say is a chronic labor shortage.
"The House and Senate immigration bills are miles apart, and neither is in the best interest of the country," Hutchison said. Pence called their bill "the real rational middle ground" to break out of the congressional impasse.
House and Senate leaders are conducting field hearings to boost support for their competing plans, thus postponing the appointment of a joint House-Senate negotiating committee until fall and raising further uncertainty over Congress' chances for passing immigration legislation by the end of the year.
President Bush has made immigration one of his top domestic priorities, pushing Congress for a comprehensive approach that would include a temporary guest worker program.