Senators push for immigration compromise

By Donna Smith

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Members of a bipartisan group of U.S. senators are pushing to reach agreement on immigration reform that would offer some illegal immigrants a chance to become citizens, and the coming month will prove critical to their efforts.

Lawmakers have been struggling to come up with a formula providing tougher border and workplace enforcement while addressing the status of some 11 million illegal immigrants who live and work in the shadows.

"I am really hopeful we can come up with something we can all live with," said Sen. Mel Martinez, a Florida Republican, who is among a bipartisan group that has been participating in the discussions.

The group is working to meet a mid-May deadline. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, has set aside the last two weeks of the month for the Senate to debate immigration legislation.

President George W. Bush backs a comprehensive approach but legislation last year that would have created a guest worker program and offered many illegal immigrants a shot at citizenship failed in the face of stiff opposition by a group of Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives.

This year lawmakers are engaging in a delicate balancing act to write a law supported by majority Democrats, who want a path to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants, while satisfying conservative Republicans, like Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, who do not want amnesty and say they do not want to reward illegal immigrants by giving them an easy path to citizenship.

"Legislative language is being drafted," said Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican. "No one has agreed to anything because we really haven't seen anything in writing."

An aide to Sen. Ted Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat who is a leading player in the negotiations, said progress was being made although there was no agreement yet.

A Senate Republican leadership aide said there were still major sticking points. "The agreement is much further away than has been suggested," the aide said.

COMMON GROUND

Whether a liberal like Kennedy and a conservative like Kyl can agree is unclear. Negotiators have offered few details on the talks and analysts say common ground likely remains elusive.

"There are people in both parties who are not really going to be for the deal," said Tamar Jacoby, an immigration expert with the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research.

"I think I can see a sweet spot. But can they both stretch quite enough to get there, I don't know," said Jacoby.

"There's a lot of good will and determination to get to an agreement, but especially now that they are looking at the details it's pretty difficult," said Angela Kelley, deputy director of the National Immigration Forum, an immigrant advocacy group.

"It's hard to see right now how the dots are going to join up," she said.