More senators looking at enforcement first option

Washington Times:

Key backers of the Senate immigration bill said yesterday they are willing to consider a compromise that would delay the guest-worker program and "amnesty" portions until the borders have been secured.
The proposal was floated by Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter in an interview Monday with editors and reporters at The Washington Times.
"I think it's worth discussing," said Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican. "Many of us have said we could work on border enforcement and, at the same time, work on other aspects that would take more time."
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat, said a delay will occur anyway because it will take a few years to set up the guest-worker program and the structure to process millions of illegal aliens onto a pathway to citizenship.
"We've always understood that," he said, adding that the final bill must be "comprehensive" and include all provisions.
"That's the key," he said, after he, Mr. McCain and others hosted a broad coalition of outside groups demanding a comprehensive bill.

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On Monday, Mr. Specter, the Pennsylvania Republican who will lead House and Senate negotiators in the conference committee, told The Times that border security should be the top priority in the final bill and that he is open to a compromise that would make the guest-worker program and path to citizenship for illegal aliens contingent on first ensuring a secure border and improved interior enforcement.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican and key backer of the Senate bill, said yesterday he could see that as a possibility.
"I'm open to the idea that you'd have ... border-security benchmarks, interior-enforcement benchmarks, and once that's fulfilled, you start assimilating people," he said.
But just a month ago, many of these same senators -- including Mr. Specter, Mr. Graham and Mr. Kennedy -- voted against a proposal that would have set out a similar timeline requiring border security and improved enforcement before the rest of the Senate bill could proceed.

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It is an approach that makes too much sense for either side to ignore. In fact it is gives a better chance of meaningful border enforcement than the enforcement alone bill because of the incentive to make sure that enforcement is effective for all sides. There are other aspects of the Senate bill that would have to be cleaned up such as the tax amnesty and the amnesty for employers. However, the House resistance tothe Senate bill is already producing some movement in the right direction and that should not be ignored.