From NY Times:

Mrs. Clinton Says G.O.P.'s Immigration Plan Is at Odds With the Bible

By NINA BERNSTEIN

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton invoked the Bible yesterday to criticize a stringent border security measure that, among other things, would make it a federal crime to offer aid to illegal immigrants.

"It is hard to believe that a Republican leadership that is constantly talking about values and about faith would put forth such a mean-spirited piece of legislation," she said of the measure, which was passed by the House of Representatives in December and mirrored a companion Senate bill introduced last week by Senator Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican and the majority leader.

"It is certainly not in keeping with my understanding of the Scripture because this bill would literally criminalize the Good Samaritan and probably even Jesus himself," she said. "We need to sound the alarm about what is being done in the Congress."

Mrs. Clinton, who is running for re-election this year and is leading in polls for the Democratic presidential nomination, spoke at a news conference in Manhattan with more than 30 immigrant leaders after meeting with them privately.

The meeting took place in an atmosphere of mounting urgency, as the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops called on its flock to oppose the measure, and tens of thousands of immigrants around the country stepped up a series of protest rallies in anticipation of a Senate vote on competing immigration bills next week.

Mr. Frist's bill, like the House measure, would make it a crime to be in the United States without proper papers and would add guards and fencing along the Mexican border, and speed deportation.

Some versions, including one proposed by Senator Arlen Spector of Pennsylvania, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, would expand the definition of alien smuggling to include help to illegal immigrants already here.

Mr. Frist has set a Monday deadline for the Senate Judiciary Committee to complete its own, broader version of immigration legislation, which could include "a path to earned citizenship" for illegal residents who qualify, and a guest worker program for foreigners, as well as new enforcement provisions. But even if a committee bill emerges in time, unless a majority of the committee's Republicans vote for it, he has vowed that he will not let it reach the Senate floor. Instead, Mr. Frist, who is also considered a 2008 presidential contender, said he would seek a vote on his bill, without debate.

Mrs. Clinton had been criticized by some immigrant activists for saying little about the issue until March 8, and then speaking at an Irish-only rally, rather than at a forum more representative of immigrants. But yesterday all seemed forgiven.

Three elected officials, all Democrats — Representatives José E. Serrano and Nydia Velásquez, and City Council member John C. Liu — shared the lectern to denounce the criminal penalties in the Congressional proposals.

Mrs. Clinton said she and New York's other senator, Charles E. Schumer, were trying to build momentum toward a bipartisan bill that would include a legalization provision that many Republicans would support in defiance of Mr. Frist. But any form of legalization is anathema to supporters of the House measure, co-sponsored by two Republican representatives, Peter King of Long Island, and F. James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin.

Mrs. Clinton said, "We want the outcome to be that they're on the wrong side of politics as well as on the wrong side of history and American values."

Mr. King has accused church leaders of "committing the sin of hypocrisy" in their campaign to sway Congress and Catholic voters, and of giving illegal immigrants an incentive to cross the border.

Asked about the political price that could be paid by politicians who defy the groundswell of anger in border areas where illegal immigration has meant mounting costs for health care, education and law enforcement, Mrs. Clinton shot back that not only border areas were affected, but also many communities in New York, especially on Long Island and in Westchester County.

"I have a lot of sympathy," she said, emphasizing her support for an overhaul that includes federal assistance to local communities, as well as better enforcement. "That's why we need comprehensive immigration reform. Taking a harsh position is not going to solve the problem."