Local, national and international groups are gearing up for a fight over an immigration reform bill set to go before the U.S. Senate in the coming weeks ---- a bill that supporters argue will help stop illegal immigration but that critics are calling too harsh.
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The battle is over House Resolution 4437, a bill that was recently approved 239-to-182 by the U.S. House of Representatives. The proposed legislation includes proposals for a worker identification system, increased investments in border enforcement and stiffer penalties for those who hire illegal immigrants or who help them enter or stay in this country.
Several local conservative officials ---- including state Sen. Bill Morrow, R-Oceanside, and U.S. Reps. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, and Duncan Hunter, R-El Cajon ---- have come out strongly in support of the bill, which was introduced by U.S. Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.
Opponents say the bill focuses too heavily on border enforcement and criticize the proposal for failing to include a provision for a guest-worker program that would allow foreign citizens to live and work temporarily in the United States.
Supporters of the bill, however, say the proposal is an important first step to controlling illegal immigration. Supporters also say a guest-worker program would be acceptable only if the federal government shows it is serious about controlling the nation's borders.
Escondido City Councilwoman Marie Waldron said Monday that she supports the bill in its current form, including the penalties it includes for helping illegal immigrants.
"Why can't we as a country enforce our laws and defend our borders?" she asked. "I feel the ... bill is a good one and needs to be passed ---- this is a first step."
Officials with two local groups that fight for the human rights of illegal immigrants will join representatives of other grass-roots organizations from across the Southwest on a March 6 trip to Washington, D.C., to pressure Congress into making significant changes to the proposed legislation, a spokesman with the human rights group the American Friends Services Committee said Monday.
American Friends' San Diego office director Christian Ramirez said Monday that a representative with the Escondido Human Rights Committee will also be making the trip to Washington. Officials with that organization could not be reached for comment Monday.
Leaders of the American Friends Service have been visiting communities from California to Texas in recent weeks to recruit volunteers for the Washington lobbying trip, Ramirez said in a phone interview from Sunland Park, N.M.
"The ... bill is quite troubling," Ramirez said.
Opposition to the bill also has blossomed abroad in recent days and weeks.
Last week, diplomats with 11 Latin American countries met in Cartagena, Colombia, to discuss the bill. They agreed to send a lobbying group to Washington this week to fight it. And on Sunday, Mexican lawmakers announced they were also sending a congressional delegation to Washington this week to push for a migration accord and lobby against a proposal to build a reinforced, high-tech fence along much of the U.S.-Mexican border.
If made law, the bill would subject anyone who "assists, encourages, directs, or induces a person to reside in or remain in the United States," to criminal prosecution.
It also singles out nonprofit organizations that help illegal immigrants obtain jobs, stating that such groups could receive fines and possible jail sentences. Staff members with Escondido's Interfaith Community Services, which has a day laborer hiring center, have said they are worried that such a law could scare off both employers and workers.
Waldron, who stirred controversy last summer when she authored a resolution of support for a statewide initiative that would have created a state border police force, said Monday opponents of the bill should be looking south --- not east.
"They should take their road show to Mexico City and ask why their citizens are forced to leave the country for a better life," Waldron said.