March 22, 2006

Reid threatens filibuster as immigration showdown looms
By ELLIOT SPAGAT

SAN DIEGO - As the Senate prepares to tackle the most sweeping immigration reforms in years, a top Democrat vowed Wednesday to do everything in his power, including filibuster, to thwart Majority Leader Bill Frist's proposed overhaul.

Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he would "use every procedural means at my disposal" to prevent Frist from bypassing the Judiciary Committee. Frist, R-Tenn., has made clear the Senate will take up his proposal next week if the 18-member committee fails to complete a broader bill.

"If Leader Frist brings a bill to the floor that does not have the approval of the Judiciary Committee, it will not get out of the Senate," Reid told reporters at the San Ysidro border crossing, a few steps from Tijuana, Mexico.

Bob Stevenson, a spokesman for Frist, did not immediately respond to a call Wednesday evening.

Reid said the overhaul must include heightened border enforcement, a "guest worker" program and a "path to citizenship" for the estimated 11 million people in the United States illegally. He called legislation by Sens. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and John McCain, R-Ariz., a "good place to start."

President Bush, in a State of the Union address two years ago, urged Congress to create a worker program under which participants could gain legal status for a specific time and then be required to return home. It would not provide an automatic path to citizenship.

Frist, who has presidential ambitions for 2008, unveiled a bill last week that sidesteps the question of temporary work permits. It would tighten borders, punish employers who hire illegal immigrants and provide more visas.

The House passed a bill in December that makes it a felony for illegal immigrants to be in the United States, imposes new penalties on employers who hire them and erects fencing along 700 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border. It has no temporary worker program.

Amid the looming showdown, Reid met Wednesday with hotel workers at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas in an effort to highlight contributions that immigrants make to the economy. He flew to San Diego for a helicopter tour and briefing by Border Patrol officials.

He planned to visit the longest cross-border tunnel discovered along the U.S.-Mexico border - a 2,400-foot secret passage that linked warehouses in San Diego and Tijuana. Authorities said they discovered more than two tons of marijuana inside the tunnel in January.

Reid also was scheduled to meet with California business, labor, religious and local government leaders to discuss immigration.