Senate Approves Broad Assault on Illegal Immigration

WASHINGTON — The Senate voted overwhelmingly Thursday to toughen the country’s immigration laws to stymie those attempting to enter the United States illegally and to make earning a living difficult for those who have already managed to get into the country.

The bill, approved by a vote of 97 to 3, would make life difficult for illegal immigrants who manage to enter the country by cracking down on the fraudulent documents that allow many to work and by sharply curbing the distribution of federal benefits--from welfare to student financial aid. The legislation would nearly double the number of Border Patrol agents, equip them better and put up miles of fencing and other barriers.

Smugglers would face far tougher penalties under the legislation, as would those who engage in the multimillion-dollar business of manufacturing fake identification papers. The bill also would build additional detention facilities for those caught in the country illegally and would streamline deportation procedures.

Struck from the bill before its passage were most of the provisions affecting legal immigrants, including cuts in the number of those allowed to enter the country. But the bill would sharply limit federal benefits for noncitizens and would hold legal immigrants’ sponsors financially responsible for those they bring into the country.

“We have brought forth significant changes in legal and illegal immigration that are rather sweeping,” said Sen. Alan K. Simpson (R-Wyo.), the chief sponsor of the bill. “This issue is about America, and America is about conflict and resolution. It’s about these things that pull and tear at us.”

It was California’s Proposition 187, the 1994 initiative seeking to bar illegal immigrants from a variety of public services, that catapulted immigration onto the national stage. Six weeks ago, the House passed a similar crackdown.

President Clinton is expected to sign the bill, but the White House is pressing for changes when a conference committee meets to reconcile the two versions of the legislation.

“While this bill strongly supports our enforcement efforts, it still goes too far in denying legal immigrants access to vital safety net programs, which could jeopardize public health and safety,” Clinton said in a statement.

The Senate bill differs from the House version in one significant respect: It lacks a provision sponsored by Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) that would give states the right to ban public schooling for illegal-immigrant children.

Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) endorsed the concept while campaigning in California, but he and other Republican leaders opted to leave the controversial bill out of the Senate measure.

The White House has said that including the schooling ban in the final legislation would trigger a veto.

Gov. Pete Wilson said he welcomed the Senate’s action but that “no illegal-immigration reform will be complete in addressing the concerns of Californians unless it includes the Gallegly amendment, which would allow states to set their own public education policies toward illegal immigrants.”

Advocate groups differed on what effect the new law would have, with the bill pleasing neither immigrant-rights groups nor hard-line immigration reformers.

Christa M. Schacht, staff attorney with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said she fears that the legislation could bring on “far-reaching and unintended consequences” and an “atmosphere of intolerance” affecting Latinos in general.

But K.C. McAlphin, deputy director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, said the Senate pulled its punches because of cries from special interests.

“This is not going to make a dent in solving the problem,” he said. “It’s a charade. It’s not real. Once they get here, illegal immigrants are still home free.”

Opposing the bill were three Democrats: Russell D. Feingold of Wisconsin, Paul Simon of Illinois and Bob Graham of Florida.

The legislation would mandate the hiring of 1,000 new Border Patrol agents over each of the next four fiscal years, dramatically increasing the current 5,100-person force. It would also equip them with state-of-the-art technology.

The bill also would provide for construction of triple-fencing along parts of a 14-mile stretch of the California-Mexico border.

In the workplace, the bill would set up a series of pilot programs under which employers could tap into a government database to verify the immigration status of new hires. This initiative is vehemently opposed by some critics who see it as a dangerous step toward a Big Brother-style society.

The system is designed to counter the proliferation of counterfeit work-authorization documents.

To help employers, the bill would reduce the number of allowable work-authorization documents from three dozen to six.

In Orange County, federal agents have already made some high-profile efforts to stamp out the thriving street market for bogus documents. Santa Ana is a hub for the production and sale of fake immigration cards, Social Security cards, drivers licenses and other documents, authorities say.

Late last year, the INS doubled the number of agents working in Orange County to about two dozen. In February, INS agents and Santa Ana police arrested seven people and deported eight others, after seizing printing equipment and stacks of false documents in a raid. Agents say documents printed in Santa Ana have been tracked to cities across the nation.

About 300 INS officers would be hired to investigate those who enter the country legally on visitor’s visas but remain in the country beyond the permitted period. Such visa over-stayers--who typically arrive by airplane, not by hustling across the border--represent roughly half of the illegal immigrants in the country, the INS says.

Times staff writer Geoff Boucher contributed to this story.