WASHINGTON – The Senate Judiciary Committee approved sweeping election-year legislation Monday that clears the way for 11 million illegal aliens to seek U.S. citizenship.
With a bipartisan coalition in control, the committee also voted down proposed criminal penalties on immigrants found to be in the country illegally. It approved a new temporary program allowing entry for 1.5 million workers seeking jobs in the agriculture industry.
“All Americans wanted fairness and they got it this evening,” said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who played a pivotal role in drafting the legislation.
There was no immediate reaction from the White House.
The 12-6 vote broke down along unusual lines, with a majority of the panel’s Republicans opposed to the measure even though their party controls the Senate.
Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., seeking re-election this fall in his border state, said the bill offered amnesty to illegal immigrants, and sought unsuccessfully to insert tougher provisions. He told fellow committee members that the economy would turn sour someday and American workers would want the jobs that now go to illegal immigrants. They will ask, “How could you have let this happen?” he added.
Committee chairman Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania was one of four Republicans to support the bill, but he signaled that some of the more controversial provisions could well be changed when the measure reaches the Senate floor.
In general, the bill is designed to strengthen enforcement of U.S. borders, regulate the flow into the country of so-called guest workers and determine the legal future of the estimated 11 million immigrants living in the United States illegally.
The bill would double the Border Patrol and authorizes a “virtual wall” of unmanned vehicles, cameras and sensors to monitor the U.S.-Mexico border.
It also allows more visas for nurses and agriculture workers, and shelters humanitarian organizations from prosecution if they provide assistance to illegal residents.
The most controversial provision would permit illegal aliens currently in the country to apply for citizenship without first having to return home. They would have to pay a fine, learn English, study American civics, demonstrate they had paid their taxes and take their place behind other applicants for citizenship.
The committee met as several thousand demonstrators rallied at the foot of the Capitol.
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