MOULTRIE (Georgia) OBSERVER May 24, 2007
Chambliss, Isakson push immigration reform A new guest worker program would be capped at 200,000 a year under the proposal, which passed 74-24 over strong opposition by the Bush administration, reported the Associated Press. These guest workers would be under two-year visas, called the “Y” visa. After expiration, they would be required to return home for a year before allowing them to re-enter under another two-year visa. The bill sets forth that visas, including the “Z” visa granting temporary legal status to immigrant workers meeting certain criteria including entering the U.S. prior to Jan. 1, 2007, won’t be available until after the border is secured. In a Wednesday conference call with reporters, U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., and U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., said the bones of the bill are good, but the debate will run through to a final vote June 9 at the earliest, and they hope the end result will be something they can support. “We’re in a two-week process where there will be lots of amendments on the floor, and we’re going to watch every single amendment so that the fundamental foundation of this bill, which is border security, no amnesty and no pathway to citizenship remain that core principal and that’s what we’re committed to,” Isakson said. Chambliss agreed, adding to his colleague’s checklist the provision to learn English and a meaningful temporary worker program. “... And I emphasis temporary, and a reasonable way to deal with these people who are here illegally — none of which come into effect until that trigger from the establishment of border security,” Chambliss said. Chambliss was booed at the recent Georgia Republican Convention for helping draft the bill that provides a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. “I understand there were more people clapping than there were boos,” he said in his defense. Early on, they said, the senators decided that they would not allow the Democrats to write a bill on their own. Their involvement in a bipartisan bill would better ensure it would make it into law, they said. “... I knew from Day One when I came to Congress that this is a very explosive issue. There’s a lot of emotion on both sides of it,” he said, adding that those at the convention who voiced their discontent in his role in the process changed their tune when they heard the details of the bill one-on-one. Chambliss and Isakson said that more and more positive comments have emerged as understanding of the bill increases. “I would disagree that most Georgians are opposed to this. Certainly, the talk show hosts got out early before the bill was ever written and said — what they hadn’t seen in writing— which was amnesty. That’s their tag word. Nobody fought amnesty harder than Johnny and me on the floor last summer,” Chambliss said. “We are very much opposed to amnesty, and I would argue with anybody that this bill doesn’t contain amnesty. And I could even argue very strongly that the current status quo, which those who are opposed to this bill are advocating — the status quo is amnesty, because we’re doing nothing. Our hands are tied from a law enforcement standpoint relative to those folks here today illegally.” Tuesday was the anniversary of Isakson’s “trigger” proposal, which sets forth a framework to set in motion before any other reforms can be implemented. The triggers are the establishment of 18,000 border patrol agents, 27,500 detention cells on the border, 1,680 miles of ground-positioning radar, 600 miles of unmanned aerial vehicles with cameras, 370 miles of barriers in high density areas, 200 miles of road and accessible terrain barriers and biometrically secure identification. “I think the business community in general understands that there is a need for a temporary worker program, and anyone who has thought through this understands you can’t just round up all these folks that are here illegally and ship them out,” Chambliss said. “Everybody’s like us — Johnny and I don’t like everything that is in this bill — but they understand that the best opportunity with the minority, with the new guys in charge here, that what we negotiated conceptually is good.” Last year’s bill was opposed by both senators. They fought “adamantly,” Isakson said, against an expedited pathway to citizenship and in support of absolute border security. “This bill is the exact opposite of that bill,” Isakson said, “And I think a lot of people, both writers as well as commentators, started talking about this as if it was last year’s bill without reading it, and now are coming to realize that there is no expedited pathway to citizenship and, in fact, there is absolute border security.” “... There will not be any amnesty or new pathway to citizenship,” Chambliss said. “Temporary does mean temporary when we talk about worker programs. We’re going to end chain migration and replace it with a merit-based system, eliminate the current job magnet for illegal immigrants by implementing a very simple, very secure employment verification and recognizing that English is the common language of this country and everybody needs to speak it if you’re going to be here.” This year’s bill ends chain migration, which is allowed under the current bill, Isakson said. Chain migration allows a person to come in with their spouse and families on both sides “all the way down to second cousins” under one green card. Under the current proposal, only the nuclear family — spouse and minor children — is permitted, he said. Current law allows 50,000 each year citizenship based on the immigration lottery, they said. The lottery would be repealed and replaced with a merit-based system; among the requirements of that system would be learning English. Now, workplace enforcement is “tantamount to impossible,” Isakson said, because immigration and customs cannot verify their own documents. This bill is extremely tough on employers, he said. One of the five triggers is the development of a secure biometric identification card for all legal visas to enter the U.S. It would operate similar to an ATM card and contain a photograph, an embedded fingerprint and a magnetic tape that can be verfied through Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “So you will have absolute security that it can’t be forged and absolute identity that the person is who they say they are. ... Once this is in place, the next time you have a raid and find somebody illegal, an employer gets a severe penalty. There’s no looking the other way. There’s no slap on the wrist. There’s no excuse for not hiring only legal people in the United States of America,” Isakson said.
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