Knight Ridder Newspapers

WASHINGTON – The Republican-controlled House late Friday approved legislation to get tough on illegal immigrants and those who hire them but side-stepped President Bush’s call for an immigrant guest worker plan.

Republicans portrayed the measure as an ambitious plan to fortify the country’s porous borders while Democrats denounced it as harsh and mean-spirited.

A coalition of business organizations, religious groups and immigrant advocates were aligned against the bill and turned their hopes to the Senate, which is considering an array of more comprehensive measures that include the guest worker concept.

The House approved the measure 239-182 after two days of debate that predictably exposed deep divisions over immigration, reflecting conflicting attitudes across the country. An estimated 11 million illegal immigrants are believed to be in the United States, including at least 1.4 million in Texas.

“Securing our nation’s borders is an imperative and this bill does it,” said House Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis.

The 169-page bill orders the Homeland Security Department to obtain “complete operational control” of the U.S. borders within 18 months and calls for the $2.2 billion construction of barriers in five sections of the Southwestern border. It also orders the department to study the feasibility of erecting barriers on the northern border with Canada.

Immigrants in the country illegally would face felony charges and potential jail time. The nation’s 8.4 million employers would be required to contact a nationwide verification system by phone or through the Internet to ensure that a job applicant’s Social Security number matches with one on file in the data bank.

“It’s a seismic shift in terms of how we treat people who are illegally in the country,” said Angela Kelley, deputy director of the National Immigration Forum, a pro-immigrant organization that opposed the measure.

Employers who hire an illegal immigrant would face a civil penalty of $5,000 to $7,500 per worker for first offenses. Under current law, the penalty ranges from $250 to $2,000. The proposed penalties would escalate to between $25,000 to $40,000 for third and subsequent offenses.

“We’ve got to get tough on employers to turn off the magnet,” Sensenbrenner said.

The measure also permits the deportation of illegal immigrant gang members, increases penalties for smuggling and would allow the government to deport legal immigrants convicted of multiple offenses for driving while intoxicated.

House leaders sidestepped one potentially volatile confrontation by blocking a proposed amendment that would prohibit children born to illegal immigrants from automatically becoming U.S. citizens.

At least 80 House members, including 11 from Texas, co-sponsored a measure by Rep. Nathan Deal, R-Ga., that would allow birthright citizenship only to U.S. citizens or permanent legal residents who hold a green card.

The House rules committee, bowing to conservative pressure, refused to allow consideration of guest worker plans pushed by President Bush and others. Business groups and immigrant advocacy groups say a guest program is essential to ensure a steady flow of immigrant labor into the United States and give workers full legal protections.

Democrats and moderate Republicans are united in their support of the concept but conservative Republicans have vowed to scuttle any immigration bill that includes a guest worker plan, which they consider a form of amnesty that rewards illegal behavior.

“Today is not a red letter day for this great and storied institution,” said Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., a House co-sponsor of one of several Senate bills that includes a guest worker program. He urged the Senate to “act with the maturity that we lack” and enact a guest worker plan.

The Senate is expected to deal with immigration in February. A compromise measure would ultimately be pieced together by negotiators from both chambers, with no guarantee of final passage during the politically turbulent 2006 election year.