Salazar immigration amendment passes

M.E. Sprengelmeyer, Rocky Mountain News

Published May 16, 2006 at midnight

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WASHINGTON — Sen. Ken Salazar won a small victory on the immigration front Tuesday, when the Senate passed his amendment requiring the president to certify that there's a national security need before a guest worker plan or other proposed immigration reforms can be implemented.

One critic dismissed it as nothing but "smoke and mirrors" to justify a guest-worker plan that opponents equate to "amnesty." But Salazar argued that it was an important part of the comprehensive immigration reform he favors.

Salazar's amendment, which passed by a bipartisan 79-16 vote, would require that the president make a formal determination that it's in national security interests before he can implement a proposed guest worker plan or other measures intended to grant legal status to millions of people who entered the country illegally. It was mostly symbolic, since President Bush already has stated that he thinks comprehensive immigration reform including a guest-worker plan is in the national security interest.

"We ought to know, as an American government, who it is that is living within our society," Salazar told colleagues in this morning's debate. "We cannot know when you have 11 million people living out in the shadows...They need to be brought out into the sunlight."

Salazar's amendment was offered to counter one by Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., who proposed a requirement that the Department of Homeland Security certify dramatic improvements in border security and immigration enforcement before a guest worker provision or other immigration provisions could take effect. Isakson's amendment lost on a 40-55 vote and was a setback to conservatives who favor an enforcement-only approach similar to one approved last year by the House of Representatives.

During the floor debate, Isakson scoffed at Salazar's proposed alternative: "That's well and good, but it has nothing to do with the security on the border."

After Salazar and Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., engaged in a friendly dialogue about the need for Salazar's amendment, Isakson said, "They're both great senators and both great lawyers, and both understand smoke and mirrors." Despite his skepticism, Isakson ultimately voted for the Salazar amendment. Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Loveland, was among 13 Republicans and 3 Democrats who voted no.

Salazar's amendment also drew criticism from Will Adams, spokesman for Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Littleton, the most vocal critic of the White House-backed guest worker provisions.

"Ken Salazar is giving President Bush the green light for amnesty first, enforcement later – or never," Adams said. "His amendment highlights the fundamental difference between the McCain-Kennedy-Salazar approach to immigration, and the House’s emphasis on getting control of our borders. We think there’s a border security crisis that demands our attention; they don't."

Salazar spokesman Drew Nannis disputed Tancredo's description of the pending Senate legislation, which will be debated over the next two weeks.

"The comprehensive immigration reform before the Senate addresses border security and does so in dramatic fashion – adding 12,000 border patrol agents, creating additional fencing, improving technology at the border and other provisions," Nannis said. "To state that the Senate’s bill doesn’t address border security conveniently ignores a major component of the legislation."

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