Steve Quayle News Alerts

January 21, 2004

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two key U.S. senators on Wednesday unveiled a bipartisan bill they said would provide a way for millions of undocumented workers to become legal residents of the United States.

Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota joined Sen. Chuck Hagel, a Nebraska Republican, in sponsoring a bill that would allow a limited number of immigrant workers to obtain temporary visas to work in the United States.

The bill would also provide a way for millions of illegal workers already in the United States to legalize their status and become permanent residents.

President Bush renewed a call for immigration law reform during his State of the Union address on Tuesday night. He has proposed a program that would allow undocumented workers to legalize their status by applying for temporary work visas.

Bush's plan has come under criticism from those who oppose amnesty for undocumented workers and others who want to provide a way for immigrants who have lived and worked in the United States for an extended period to become permanent residents.

Despite Bush's call for immigration reform, many congressional aides say it is unlikely legislation will be enacted before the November elections.

Daschle and Hagel said their bill was not an amnesty even though it would provide a path for undocumented workers to become permanent residents. "We want them to become stakeholders," Daschle said at a news conference. "That doesn't come free, that doesn't come without a great deal of effort."

In order to earn permanent status, undocumented workers would have to pay a fine and have lived in the United States for at least five years prior to the introduction of the legislation. They also would have to have worked in the United States for at least four years.

And they would have to pass security checks, pay U.S. taxes and demonstrate a knowledge of English.

"These are earned rights, these are earned green cards and status, and hopefully for many, citizenship," Hagel said.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=4180287