Don't like our immigration fix? Craft a better one, Salazar says

Lisa Ryckman, Rocky Mountain News

Saturday, June 9, 2007

U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar issued a challenge Friday to critics of the immigration reform bill he helped craft: If you don't like it, come up with something better.

The Colorado Democrat still thinks he can breathe new life into the controversial measure, which took a big hit this week when it fell 15 votes short of the 60 needed to bring it up for final action.

"It's not over," Salazar said. "When the president gets back (from the Group of Eight summit), hopefully, we'll be able to work with our Republican colleagues to get enough of them on board so we can get this bill moving forward."

The bill, a compromise reached by Salazar and other senators during three months of private meetings, has come under bipartisan attack. Some opponents object to its provision to allow 12 million undocumented workers in the country illegally to stay after paying fines and meeting other requirements; other critics dislike the emphasis on job skills and education over family ties in the granting of visas.

"It's a shame that Senator Salazar, President Bush and others seem to be so tone-deaf on this," Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Littleton, said in a statement. "The American people are dead-set against amnesty, and no amount of slick repackaging or creative euphemisms are going to change that."

Salazar said the bill imposes sufficiently tough requirements for undocumented workers, including steep fees and an eight-year waiting period. And it offers an alternative to rounding up and deporting 12 million people, which would cost billions, he said.

"We need to have a realistic solution," Salazar said. "Most of these people are hardworking people."

Julien Ross, coordinator for the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, said critics and anti-immigration politicians should get out of the way of a sincere effort to fix a broken system.

"It's sad and tragic that there's a political game being played in Washington with the lives of millions of people," he said.

Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput called the bill an imperfect but important first step and urged the Senate to reconsider.

"We can no longer wait to address this pressing humanitarian issue," he said in a statement. "Delaying would lead to more enforcement raids, confusion, and resentment."

One opponent suggested tossing out everything except two of the more widely accepted provisions - border security and employer sanctions.

"These omnibus bills are so complicated, you get something that nobody wants, and you end up with a mess," said Stan Weekes, director of the Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform. "Washington needs to go with those things that everyone agrees on, and work around that."

What's next

• The measure's fate largely depends on President Bush, said Salazar spokesman Cody Wertz.

• When Bush returns from the G-8 summit in Germany, he can twist Republican senators' arms to renegotiate a compromise.

• "The president has to help us push this through. We carried a lot of water here," Wertz said.

• If he doesn't, the bill is most likely dead, at least for the near future.

Staff writer Fernando Quintero contributed to this report.