House of Representatives Passes Immigration Bill

WASHINGTON--The House passed a bill yesterday to slow the influx of illegal aliens with a carrot-and-stick program of amnesty for those with roots and penalties for employers who hire undocumented workers.

The compromise legislation, written by a conference committee, went to the Senate after the 238-173 vote.

"It isn't the Sistine Chapel, but it's not a bad paint job," said Rep. Dan Lungren, R-Calif., who played a major role in writing the bill.

The bill had been forced off the House floor late last month in an embarrassing procedural defeat that left sponsors pronouncing it dead.

But with nearly 5,000 aliens apprehended on a typical day, not to speak of those who elude U.S. Border Patrol and other authorities, sponsors resuscitated the legislation within the last week.

A determined band of legislators was bent on getting an immigration bill passed despite the rapidly approaching Nov. 4 elections and the rush to adjournment. These lawmakers led conference talks which produced a compromise version of the bill.

The bill would use as its "stick" a system of fines and prison terms against employers who knowingly hire undocumented workers. As a balancing "carrot," those who crossed the border illegally before 1982 and established roots in the United States would be given legal status.

To protect Hispanics, the bill would create new protections against employment discrimination based on national origin or citizenship status. A special counsel would be created in the Justice Department to enforce the protections. Employers of three or fewer people would be exempted from that provision.

In one of the many balancing acts of the bill, the civil rights language could be wiped out by Congress after three years if a General Accounting Office report found the provisions were unfair to employers. Likewise, employer sanctions could end at the same time, if found to cause widespread discrimination.

The bill would provide $4 billion over four years to reimburse state and local governments for providing benefits to newly legalized aliens, who would be barred from receiving federal assistance for five years.

Foreign agricultural workers on non-perishable crops would be provided free legal services.