Senate panel passes bill allowing guest workers

updated 9:45 a.m. ET March 28, 2006

WASHINGTON - The Senate Judiciary Committee approved election-year immigration legislation Monday that clears the way for millions of undocumented workers to seek U.S. citizenship without having to first leave the country.

After days of street demonstrations that stretched from California to the grounds of the U.S. Capitol, the committee also voted to strip out proposed criminal penalties for residents found to be in this country illegally.

The panel’s vote cleared the way for the full Senate to begin debate Tuesday on the emotional immigration issue.

“All Americans wanted fairness, and they got it this evening,” said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat who played a pivotal role in drafting the legislation. The bill was approved 12-6.

Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., voted for the bill but signaled that some of the provisions could well be changed by the full Senate.

In general, the bill is designed to strengthen border patrol, create new opportunities for so-called guest workers and determine the legal future of the estimated 11 million immigrants living in the United States illegally.

Democrats' advantage
At several critical points, committee Democrats were united while Republicans splintered. In general, GOP Sens. Lindsay Graham of South Carolina, Sam Brownback of Kansas and Mike DeWine of Ohio, who is seeking re-election this fall, sided with Democrats.

That gave Democrats a majority that allowed them to shape the bill to their liking.

Earlier Monday, as more than a thousand immigration rights activists rallied outside the Capitol, the Senate Judiciary Committee adopted an amendment by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., that would protect church and charitable groups, as well as individuals, from criminal prosecution for providing food, shelter, medical care and counseling to undocumented immigrants.

“Charitable organizations, like individuals, should be able to provide humanitarian assistance to immigrants without fearing prosecution,” Durbin said.

The House voted in December to make offers of such non-emergency aid a felony. The Senate panel also rejected a proposal Wednesday by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, to require humanitarian groups providing aid to illegal immigrants to register with the Department of Homeland Security.

The immigration bills have sparked protests around the country, and with the committee’s action on Monday demonstrators at the front of the Capitol claimed to have already had an impact. At least 200 clergy members were present, including dozens wearing handcuffs to protest the House’s action.

'We are Americans, too'
“This is not about legislation any more,” said Jorge Medina, an immigrant from Honduras now living in Charlotte, N.C. “This is about feelings now. We are Americans, too. We are not from Mars, and we are not from the moon.”

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