Immigration deal struck

Senate negotiators struck a long-awaited deal yesterday on a bipartisan immigration bill, but lawmakers’ elation may evaporate amid apparent stumbling blocks and dissension on both sides.

Two senators engaged in the talks from the beginning, John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), skipped the unveiling of the deal. Both have strong reservations about the compromise, according to staff sources. Even Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) refrained from endorsing the bill, which presently tops 300 pages.

{mosads}“I have serious concerns about some aspects of this proposal, including the structure of the temporary-worker program and undue limitations on family immigration,” Reid said in a statement. “We need to improve the bill as it moves through the legislative process.”

But Reid hailed the commitment taken on by the negotiators and their aides, who worked into the night for weeks on end to meet the leader’s deadline for debate on immigration reform before Memorial Day. A decisive moment will come Monday, when senators will take up a motion to proceed to the new measure, provided that it is ready for the floor.

Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.), one of three Democratic and seven Republican negotiators who endorsed the deal in person, said the new pact should “get us beyond the motion to proceed.”

“Changes may be made as it goes through the process, but overall, it’s a good beginning,” Salazar said.

The bill contains a “trigger” that delays implementation of an earned path to citizenship for the country’s estimated 12 million illegal immigrants until beefed-up border security is fully in place. A similar amendment that Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) had also offered to last year’s immigration bill fell far short, this time winning only six Democratic votes.

Until the border security element is complete, illegal immigrants will receive a probationary document enabling them to remain in the country legally. After the border requirements are met, those immigrants can apply for four-year visas that are renewable — a significant win for Democrats.

“Some will call this amnesty,” Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) said. “I want to define amnesty in a way I think is different.” Requiring immigrants to pay fines and return to their home countries before completing the path to legality should not be interpreted as offering blanket assimilation for immigrants, he added.

Another unfinished plank in the deal is “AgJobs,” the agricultural guest-worker program authored by Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Larry Craig (R-Idaho). Farm interests and unions support that language, but Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) has not abandoned his push to add a prevailing-wage standard that immigrant-rights groups have fiercely opposed.

“We still have some language to work out on AgJobs,” Chambliss said yesterday.

One senator who lent his presence yesterday was John McCain (R-Ariz.), who has distanced himself from the negotiating table as he prepares to stress a borders-first approach for his presidential run. McCain chose his words carefully, telling reporters he is “proud to have been a small part” of the talks.

“We all know this issue can be caught up in extracurricular politics unless we move forward as quickly as possible,” McCain said.

The bill would gradually shift the ratio of green cards awarded to future immigrants from more family-based, as Democrats prefer, to near-equality between family-based and merit-based immigration. Republicans fought for more slots for immigrants with strong education and work experience.

The two senators involved in the talks who were absent at the announcement spoke later yesterday and signaled their concern.

Speaking on Texas radio, Cornyn said he would reserve judgment on the deal until he sees the text, but warned he would not support a compromise like the last major immigration amnesty deal in 1986.

“The fact is that this announcement was premature, and we have not seen the legislative language, and these negotiations are ongoing,” he said, adding that he plans to offer amendments next week.

On his part, Menendez made a bilingual floor speech explaining why he did not sign on.

“The agreement announced … does not fully preserve family reunification and several other reform principles,” Menendez said.

The 10 senators who endorsed the deal yesterday have nothing but challenges ahead. Provisions that are not yet in legislative language must be carefully written down, and lawmakers on both sides must be convinced to support the eventual bill, or at least not work to block it.

Graham predicted the vote for final passage of the immigration bill “will be overwhelming,” as long as the language as drafted comports with the principles agreed to by negotiators.

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), a leader among borders-first conservatives, issued a statement that lambasted the decision to allow illegal immigrants a path to citizenship.

“[T]he little we do know about the bill is troubling,” said the statement. “This is amnesty.”

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), a top-tier presidential candidate who pressed for a number of pro-labor amendments to last year’s bill, also pointedly held back his support in a statement on the deal.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who spoke with reporters later yesterday, said that he, too, had concerns with the guest-worker program backed by Feinstein and withheld his immediate support.

But there was backing from the Bush administration. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, who have represented President Bush in the intense negotiations, were also there to unveil the
deal, after rules were relaxed to allow executive-branch officials in the Senate Press Gallery.

The Cabinet secretaries briefed Bush before announcing an immigration deal, Chertoff said, and the president told them he looks forward to signing a bill. But early reviews from House conservatives, another pivotal constituency on the deal’s path
to Bush’s desk, were scathing.

“It seems I will never stop being stunned by the audacity and chutzpah of the United States Senate,” Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-Fla.) said in a statement. “I’ve known for a while now that Senators Kennedy and Reid were tone-deaf … but I did not know Senate Republicans would follow their misguided lead.”

Rep. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.), the former House Judiciary Committee chairman, blasted the bill as a “get-out-of-jail free card.” But House GOP Conference Chairman Adam Putnam (Fla.) said late yesterday he and fellow leaders would meet to discuss the Senate plan.

“I think people are keeping their powder dry,” Putnam said.

Jackie Kucinich contributed to this report.