Senators seek compromise on immigration reform

U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., is part of a bipartisan group of a dozen senators working behind closed doors on a potential new immigration reform plan, the Albuquerque Journal is reporting.

Instead of a path to citizenship, an expanded guest worker program could be at the center of the new proposal. The bill could come to the Senate floor within days.

Then again, it might not. It’s going to be difficult to work out a compromise. This is a tough issue and, with the 2008 presidential election in full swing, it’s sure to be politicized despite the fact that senators are working in a bipartisan manner.

Last year, the proposal was to create a path to citizenship, but the House and Senate failed to reach an agreement. President Bush wants another attempt. As a former border-state governor, he understands this issue well and, with the exception of his support of a border fence, takes a fairly moderate approach to it.

The new plan being discussed, if it replaces the path to citizenship with an expanded guest-worker program, would appease more conservatives and, therefore, may be more likely to get the president’s signature, but it’s certain to encounter resistance among Democrats in the Senate and, in particular, the House.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has said he’ll use last year’s proposal as the start of a discussion in the Senate if the current talks don’t result in a new proposal. Reid supports a path to citizenship for the more than 12 million undocumented immigrants already living in the United States.

Even a guest-worker program will encounter resistance among some conservatives who want to attempt to entirely cut off the stream of people entering the country illegally before dealing with any other aspect of the immigration problem.

Domenici and Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., told the Journal they believe a guest-worker program is sufficient because most undocumented immigrants don’t want to become citizens anyway.

“The overwhelming majority will say that’s good enough,” Domenici told the newspaper.

“A lot of them, their intent is not to become citizens. They just want to feed their family,” Pearce said.

Rep. Heather Wilson, New Mexico’s other Republican, told the newspaper she supports expanding the guest-worker program and opposes a path to citizenship that allows undocumented immigrants to remain in the United States while they apply.

The state’s Democrats, Sen. Jeff Bingaman and Rep. Tom Udall, support a path to citizenship.