Seen in the Washington Post:
A bipartisan group of senators reached a delicate compromise today on what could be the biggest overhaul of immigration law in more than 40 years. The measure, which has the backing of the Bush administration, offers the nation’s 12 million undocumented workers a route to legal status but would also bolster border patrols and enhanced enforcement of rules for hiring aliens.[...]
Under the deal, undocumented workers who crossed into the country before Jan. 1 would be offered a temporary-residency permit while they await a new “Z Visa” that would allow them to live and work lawfully here. The head of an illegal-immigrant household would have eight years to return to his or her home country to apply for permanent legal residence for members of the household, but each Z Visa itself would be renewable indefinitely, as long as the holder passes a criminal background check, remains fully employed and pays a $5,000 fine, plus a paperwork-processing fee.
A separate, temporary-worker program would be established for 400,000 migrants a year. Each temporary work visa would be good for two years and could be renewed up to three times, as long as the worker leaves the country for a year between renewals.
The temporary-worker program would come into force only after new border controls come into force and a crackdown against employers hiring undocumented workers is undertaken.
While I can imagine that some undocumented immigrants would take the chance to become normalized…I can’t help but wonder if the disincentive of a $5,000 fine and the requirement to return to their home country to apply will permit more than a dent to be made in the number of undocumented workers in the country.
Also, the year gap requirement in the temporary-worker program? Doesn’t that create an incentive to simply not leave the country?
I realize that such measures are required to get the support of xenophobic congresscritters, but I can’t help but wonder if a bigger mess isn’t being made here.