Bush Pushes Bill Allowing Illegal U.S. Residents to Stay

WASHINGTON — With a trip to Mexico set for later this week, President Bush on Tuesday urged the Senate to act quickly to allow thousands of foreigners to seek legal residence even though they are in the United States illegally, saying such action would demonstrate America’s compassion.

But Senate scheduling conflicts and strong opposition from a senior Democrat make the chances appear slim that the Democratic-controlled chamber will comply with Bush’s wishes. As a result, the president apparently will be deprived of a popular initiative to tout Friday while attending an international aid conference in Monterrey.

As he pleaded with the Senate to enact the measure, which the Republican-controlled House passed last week, Bush noted that it contains an array of provisions designed to enhance homeland security, such as requiring more foolproof identification documents and greater monitoring of foreign students.

The immigration measure would allow thousands of people who either entered the United States illegally or overstayed their visas to remain in this country with their families while completing paperwork to obtain a green card, which entitles them to settle in the United States. To begin this process, the applicants would have to pay a $1,000 fine.

Without a congressional exemption, such immigrants must return to their homelands to file an application, and face a potential wait of up to 10 years before they may return.

The bill, Bush said, would mean the immigrants “won’t have to leave the country, apply, and then come back to be with their family. We believe in family values. We believe good policy keeps families together.”

Bush added, “I want to show our friends, the Mexicans, that we are compassionate” about not wanting to disrupt families that are a mix of legal and illegal residents.

The measure would apply only to foreigners who had obtained a qualifying sponsor--through employment with a U.S. company, for example, or marriage to a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident--before Aug. 15, 2001. Such persons would have until Nov. 30 to apply for an exemption.

The border security provisions in the bill would require schools to report when a foreign student does not show up for classes and that passports and visas issued by other nations contain “biometric information,” such as fingerprints or retina scans.

A key foe of the measure is Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.), who in a floor speech this week denounced the immigration provision as amounting to “amnesty for hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens, many of whom have not undergone any, any, background or security check.”

Such an approach “poses a dangerous risk to our border security,” Byrd added, noting that three of the Sept. 11 hijackers were in the U.S. on expired visas.

Byrd, first elected to the Senate in 1958, indicated he would thwart any attempt to vote on the bill this week.

Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) held out little prospect of a quick vote, saying Tuesday he was hopeful the Senate would take up the immigration matter upon returning in April from its spring recess.

White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer seemed to suggest that the Senate had its priorities mixed up, noting that the chamber is working on campaign finance reform--an issue he said does not have the immediate impact the immigration measure does because it would not take effect until after the November elections.

But when pressed, Fleischer said the White House was not suggesting that the Senate put aside the campaign finance bill to take up immigration.

After his stop in Mexico, Bush will visit Peru and El Salvador.