US acts to allow illegals become citizens
By Sean O’Driscoll, New York
Irish Examiner, 26 May 2006

THE US Senate voted for a groundbreaking legalisation programme for America’s estimated 12 million illegal immigrants last night.

The bill, which would introduce the biggest shakeup in US immigration policy in 20 years, allows for a six-year programme before illegal immigrants can apply for citizenship.

The bill would also allow an additional 200,000 guest workers into the US each year.

Both Senate leaders and the White House welcomed the passing of the bill, saying it gave a historical opportunity for America to correct its outdated immigration laws.

However, Senate leaders must try to match their bill with an anti-illegal immigration bill passed by the House of Representatives in December.

The House bill rejects the need for a legalisation programme and would make illegal immigration an aggravated felony.

It will also punish others who help illegal immigrants and increases funding for border patrols and airport checks.

Senators John McCain and Ted Kennedy, who lead the campaign for the legalisation process, appealed to the House to accept the compromise Senate bill, which allows for greater border security while including the legalisation programme.

However, the gap between the two bills remains so vast that many Republican congressman may wait until after House elections in November before agreeing to a compromise.

A number of Senate Republicans, including Mr McCain, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said yesterday that some House Republicans were ready for compromise.

Representative Mike Pence, a Republican from Indiana, the leader of the conservative caucus in the House and a friend of former Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble, proposed a compromise on Tuesday that would allow illegal immigrants to become guest workers but would not allow a legalisation process for current illegals.

It’s unlikely the Senate will accept this after eight days of heated debate and months of mass rallies by pro-immigration groups.

The Senate bill’s path was secured on Wednesday night, when it voted 73 to 25, to limit further debate, signalling that it had reached bipartisan support.

Senator Kennedy’s spokeswoman’s, Laura Capps, said the vote to close down debate was the breakthrough.

“We knew from that moment on that it was probably going to go through. It’s just great,” she said.

In O’Neill’s Irish bar in Manhattan, owner Ciaran Staunton was carefully watching a TV screen as the Senate vote unfold.

“We’re all glued to it here,” he said. “Everyone I know had their TVs on at home and in work watching it all unfold.”

Mr Staunton, the vice-chairman of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform, said he hoped the House of Representatives would compromise.

“It’s good to see the President using his bully pulpit to back the Senate bill and Republicans are taking a long-term view and don’t want to be seen as anti-Hispanic or anti-immigrant. Everyone wants this to happen,” he said.