Chattanooga Times Free Press
January 19, 2007

WASHINGTON -- Two U.S. senators took to the chamber's floor here Thursday to push immigration reform before the new 110th Congress.

Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., introduced legislation Thursday that would prohibit the implementation of any comprehensive immigration overhaul before the border is secure.

Under his measure, any guest-worker programs would not be triggered until the Department of Homeland Security certifies to President Bush and to Congress that the border security provisions in the immigration legislation had been funded and were operational.

"We must make the right way to come to America be the legal way to come to America, not the ease of crossing our border in the dark of night under some other cover," Sen. Isakson said. "We must begin restoring the respect for legal immigration and shutting the door on illegal immigration."

Earlier this month Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., introduced a comprehensive immigration reform measure modeled after last year's bill. That bill, which passed the Senate, included a guest-worker program and a pathway to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants based on an immigrant's length of stay in the country.

But the Senate in 2006 could not resolve its immigration differences with the House, which in 2005 passed a border-security-only bill.

"Senator Reid thinks the best way to proceed is to use the bill that passed on a bipartisan basis in the Senate last year," said Jim Manley, spokesman for Sen. Reid.

Last May Sen. Isakson offered his border-security-first trigger as an amendment to the comprehensive immigration package. The amendment failed in a 55-to-40 vote.

But Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said the so-called Isakson principle could garner as many as 90 votes this time around.

"There is no issue upon which we in the Congress have more need to come to a conclusion than the issue of immigration," he said. "It is our responsibility, and we should not stop our work on the immigration bill until we are finished."

Sen. Alexander spoke on the Senate floor immediately after Sen. Isakson on Thursday.

He criticized Congress' inability to reach a final immigration agreement last year.

Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said he has not read the full details of Sen. Isakson's bill, but that he backs a border-security-first approach.

"I absolutely believe we can't have a real immigration policy in our country without absolutely ensuring that we can secure our borders," Sen. Corker said.

While both chambers passed bills, Sen. Alexander said some Republicans in the House chose to use the immigration impasses as campaign material for last November's elections.

"That was not successful, because the American people expect us to act like grownups, deal with big issues, and come to a conclusion," said Sen. Alexander. "By our failure to act, we are showing a lack of respect for the rule of law and a lack of respect for our tradition as a nation of immigrants."

Sen. Isakson's bill calls for an increase in port-of-entry and border inspectors, new unmanned aerial vehicles and more detention beds. It also would create an identification system to be given to employers to verify the legality of workers.

"The biggest growth industry in the United States of America on our southwestern border is forged documents," Sen. Isakson said.

The legislation would give individuals who are in this country illegally one year to come forward and identify themselves. Once cleared by terrorist and criminal watch lists, they then would receive a two-year temporary work permit that requires employment and the completion of English and civics lessons.