SERGIO BUSTOS
Citizen Washington Bureau

A bill proposed by a bipartisan duo of prominent senators would allow illegal immigrants to become permanent legal residents if they fulfilled a variety of conditions.
The bill, co-sponsored by Sens. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., and Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., would require that illegal immigrants pass criminal and national security background checks and prove they have lived in the United States for five years and were employed at least four years.

They would have to show they paid federal taxes and have a "demonstrated knowledge" of English. They also would be fined $1,000.

Other bills in Congress focus on creating so-called guest worker programs or target a specific group of illegal immigrants. Arizona lawmakers introduced a bill last summer that would allow foreigners to temporarily work here before they could become eligible for permanent residency.

Another bill with widespread bipartisan support would legalize illegal immigrant farmworkers. Still another would legalize children who entered the country illegally with their illegal immigrant parents.

The Daschle-Hagel bill also calls for creation of a "Willing Worker Program" that would admit only a limited number of foreign workers with temporary visas.

The two lawmakers are also seeking more federal dollars to reduce the backlog of immigration applications from relatives of U.S. citizens and legal residents seeking to permanently live and work in the United States.

About 6.2 million applications are pending before federal immigration authorities, up from 3.9 million in 2001.

Daschle and Hagel argue their measure is a starting point for Congress to debate the complex and controversial subject of immigration and, specifically, what to do with the country's estimated 8 million to 10 million illegal immigrants. About 7 in 10 are Mexican.

"This is the right thing to do because we have a patchwork of immigration laws in this country that make no sense," Hagel said.

Fox has questions for Bush

MEXICO CITY - A Mexican official said yesterday his government has 10 questions about President Bush's recently announced immigration plan and has already begun to discuss them with U.S. authorities.

Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox are to meet at Bush's Texas ranch on March 5-6.

Geronimo Gutierrez, undersecretary for North American affairs at the Foreign Relations Department, called the Bush plan "a creative proposal on the table."

Fox had already praised Bush's proposal, taking partial credit for keeping the idea of immigration reform alive for an estimated 4.8 million illegal immigrant Mexicans in the United States during meetings with the U.S. president.

Gutierrez said there are two main aspects to the immigration issue: the legal situation of millions of imported U.S. workers and the creation of formal mechanisms for future migrant workers.