FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM

May 24, 2007

Senate votes to slash guest-worker program

By DAVE MONTGOMERY
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

The Senate, undercutting a central feature in the White House-backed immigration bill, voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to shrink the size of a proposed guest-worker program intended to give U.S. businesses a steady source of low-skilled foreign labor.

By 74-24, senators approved an amendment by Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., to cap the program at 200,000 workers annually. The bill originally proposed bringing 400,000 foreign workers into the country each year, and possibly up to 600,000.

Bingaman's amendment also eliminates an "escalator" provision that would enable the government to adjust the numbers of workers depending on the country's economic needs.

He told colleagues that his proposal "does not destroy the bill" but would allow a "much more prudent" guest-worker program.

All but two Democrats voted for the measure, while Republicans split -- 27 for and 21 against.

Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, the Republican leader of a bipartisan coalition that produced the sweeping immigration measure, said the bill's sponsors could begrudgingly accept the reduction, but he expressed fears that the entire bill "would unravel" unless the escalator provision is restored.

"I'd say the deal's broken then," Bingaman said when told of Kyl's comment that the absence of an adjuster clause could be a "deal-breaker." He said he would fight attempts to restore it.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., one of the bill's sponsors, won easy passage of an amendment that would impose mandatory jail sentences for those who cross the border illegally after being deported -- at least 60 days for the first offense and no less than two years for the second offense.

Senators also approved an amendment by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., to improve the treatment of more than 7,000 unaccompanied immigrant children who are taken into federal custody each year. The measure would help children reunite with families, expand shelter and foster care, and develop minimum standards for treatment.