Amnesty Compromise Reached by Senate
A bipartisan group of senators reached what could be the biggest overhaul of immigration law in more than 40 years.
It would offer the nation's 12 million undocumented workers a route to legal status.
Under the deal, undocumented workers who crossed into the country before Jan. 1 would be offered a temporary-residency "Z Visa" that would allow them to live and work lawfully here.
A separate, temporary-worker program would be established for 400,000 migrants a year. Each temporary work visa would be good for two years.
To satisfy Republicans, those provisions must come only after the feds implements tough new border controls and a crackdown on employers that hire illegal immigrants. Republicans are demanding 18,000 new Border Patrol agents, 370 miles of additional border fencing and an effective, electronic employee-verification system for the workplace.
Although the bill is 375 pages in length, we're still unclear how this is going to work. If the ongoing handling of Post-Hurricane Katrina efforts by the government is indicative of how this will be executed, this is indeed a sad day family!!!
Source