SERGIO BUSTOS
Citizen Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - House and Senate lawmakers rallied yesterday behind legislation that would legalize as many as 500,000 illegal immigrants employed as farmworkers, but the Bush administration has yet to endorse the measure.

Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, and Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., the bill's chief sponsors, are urgently working to get the measure onto the Senate floor before the end of the year. They are trying for support from at least 60 senators. So far, the bill has attracted 54 sponsors from both parties.

President Bush's support would seal the deal, Craig and Kennedy said.

"If we could gain the support of the president, this (legislation) would go through in a couple of hours," Kennedy said.

The farmworker measure stands a better chance than other immigration reform measures of winning approval before next fall's election, Craig said.

"The time has come," he said.

Craig said House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., already has pledged to back the measure. The House bill, written by Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., and Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, has 94 co-sponsors.

The lawmakers have spent more than seven years crafting the legislation - the Agricultural Job Opportunity, Benefits and Security Act - and have assembled an unusual coalition of groups to back it. They include the American Farm Bureau, the United Farm Workers, the AFL-CIO, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Council of La Raza.

The bill, known as the AgJobs bill, is one of several pending in Congress that would rewrite the nation's immigration laws to deal with the burgeoning population of illegal immigrants.

Between 8 million and 10 million people are believed to be living illegally in the United States, up from 7 million in 2000, according to federal estimates. Nearly 70 percent are from Mexico.

Bush has neither endorsed nor rejected any of the bills. But in January, he outlined a "set of principles" he wanted Congress to follow for legislation that would allow illegal immigrants to temporarily work in the United States with renewable three-year visas.

He opposes, however, any "amnesty" proposal that would automatically grant legal permanent residency to illegal immigrants.

Under the AgJobs bill, illegal immigrants who can prove they worked in agriculture for 100 days between March 1, 2002, and August 31, 2003, would qualify for a temporary work visa. They could then "earn" legalized status if they continue to work in agriculture for at least 360 days during the next six years.

The bill also would make it easier for farmers to hire foreign workers through a less bureaucratic temporary visa program.

If passed, the legislation would affect tens of thousands of farmworkers laboring here illegally, and scores of agricultural businesses that depend on immigrant labor. Federal officials estimate that 50 percent to 85 percent of the country's 1.6 million farmworkers are illegal immigrants.

To demonstrate support for the AgJobs bill, farmworker organizations from Oregon, New York, Idaho, Ohio and North Carolina and agribusiness groups from across the country joined the lawmakers at yesterday's news conference on Capitol Hill.

"Conventional wisdom says it is hard to enact major legislation in an election (year), but that would be a tragic waste of a great opportunity in the case of the AgJobs bill," said Arturo Rodriguez, president of the United Farm Workers. "It is fair and sensible reform."