Via MercuryNews.com

JUDICIARY COMMITTEE WISELY TONES DOWN NOXIOUS ENFORCEMENT PROVISIONS

Mercury News Editorial

With the support of President Bush and the voices of hundreds of thousands of protesters ringing in their ears, the Senate Judiciary Committee this week restored balance to the debate over immigration.

Its bill, which now goes to the full Senate, has all the elements of a solution that has eluded Congress and divided the nation: tougher border protections, a guest-worker program for new immigrants, sanctions against companies that don't comply and an opportunity -- not a guarantee -- for immigrants already here illegally to seek permanent residency. Close to what Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., have proposed, the bill is not the inverse of the provocative and punitive legislation passed by House Republicans last year: It is a reasoned alternative to it.

Whether reason prevails during the next two weeks of debate in the Senate is another matter. The bill is a long way from becoming law.

Though the Democrats on the committee, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein, united behind it, the bill had the support of only four of 10 Republicans. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, putting his presidential ambitions above the wishes of the president, is threatening to pull rank and put his own enforcement-only bill at the top of the pile.

Even if the Senate does pass a comprehensive immigration bill, it must be reconciled with the House bill. Republican conservatives so far remain obstinate that they will consider only border security this year.