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Immigration measures adopting piecemeal approach in Congress

Jonathan Weisman Washington Post

WASHINGTON – The House and the Senate moved Wednesday toward a piecemeal crackdown on illegal immigration, pushing forward separate bills to require photo identification to vote, build vast fences on the U.S.-Mexico border and speed the deportation of undocumented workers. The measures would take the place of President Bush’s far broader rewrite of the nation’s immigration laws.

Voting almost completely along party lines, the House voted 228-196 for a bill that would require all who register to vote in federal elections to show photo identification that proves they are U.S. citizens. The Senate, meanwhile, voted 94-0 to take up a measure passed by the House last week to build 700 miles of double-layered fencing on the U.S.-Mexico border, with a final vote to come as early as Monday.

Today, the House will take up bills to speed the deportation of undocumented workers, ratchet up penalties for immigrant gang members and human smugglers, end an exemption for Salvadoran illegal immigrants from rapid deportation, criminalize tunneling under the border, and overtly deputize state and local police officers to enforce federal immigration laws.

In an interview on CNN, President Bush said he would sign the measures, even though they do not embrace a more comprehensive approach – including a guest-worker program – that he has backed.

“Yes, I’ll sign it into law,” Bush said. “I would view this as an interim step. I don’t view this as a final product.”

Passage of the measures – should it occur – would permit leaders of the Republican-controlled Congress to claim they have taken steps to deal with the flood of illegal immigrants. It is an issue that has rent the party, spawned huge demonstrations in many cities last spring and called into question the Republicans’ ability to face tough issues. GOP leaders also believe that the hardening of legislative lines on illegal immigration and border security will bolster the party’s conservative political support ahead of the midterm elections.