From CNNHighlights:
The draft immigration legislation is the first stab by the White House and Republican senators this year at addressing the presence of 11 million to 12 million illegal immigrants living and working in the country and employers' reliance on illegal workers.
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The undocumented workers would have legal status with the visas, but to get a green card, making them legal permanent residents, they would have to return to their home country, apply at a U.S. embassy or consulate to re-enter legally and pay a $10,000 fine.
The plan also tries to make border security a priority by requiring 18,300 Border Patrol agents and 370 miles of physical fencing be in place, as well as electronic monitoring of the southern border ongoing before a temporary worker program could start.
The plan is far more conservative than the one the Senate approved last year with bipartisan backing and support from President Bush. That plan, whose principal architects were Sens. John McCain, R-Arizona, and Edward M. Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, allowed illegal immigrants to stay in the U.S., work and apply to become legal residents after learning English, paying fines and back taxes and clearing a background check.
Critics dismissed that bill as an amnesty.
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A House bill introduced last week by Reps. Luis Gutierrez, D-Illinois, and Jeff Flake, R-Arizona, also attempts to appeal to conservatives.
It provides six-year work visas to undocumented immigrants and requires them at some point during that period to exit the country and re-enter using their work visa.
I do not know what to make of this. It doesn't seem, to me, that larger fences and expensive visas will squash illegal immigration. But at least it is not a blanket amnesty, and it increases the penalties for people hiring illegal immigrants.
Will someone with a better understanding of this weigh in?