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Posted on Tue, Apr. 11, 2006

By Greg Bluestein

ASSOCIATED PRESS 

 

ATLANTA - Sen. Saxby Chambliss said Monday's widespread immigration demonstrations send two messages: America is the only nation tolerant enough to allow illegal residents to publicly protest policy, and Congress must toughen border security.

 

"Whatever type of reform package we come out with, we've got to secure the borders of this country," he told the Associated Press on Monday.

Chambliss, R-Ga., has carved out a niche for himself with federal immigration policy, even if it has meant bickering within his own party.

 

He argues that Congress should back legislation that would create a temporary worker program to keep farms running without giving undocumented workers a leg up to becoming citizens.

"Whether you're here five years or one year, if you're here illegally you need to be put in a category that does not give you a direct pathway to citizenship," he said.

 

Chambliss' policy stance has caused friction with some of his GOP colleagues who had supported a landmark bill that would offer eventual citizenship to millions of illegal immigrants. Although that bill fell victim last week to internal disputes in both parties, Chambliss expects a similar measure to re-emerge this year.

 

When it does, he said, he wants lawmakers to consider his proposal to require illegal immigrants to return to their home countries after two years and return to the U.S. legally.

 

"There are also a lot of folks who have not come for the right reasons and who have come here for the right intentions but they aren't employed. They're a burden on the system," he said. "And whatever immigration reform package we come up with, we've got to deal with these folks."

 

The nation's Republican leaders have made changing immigration a top priority, prompting thousands of immigrants to crowd the streets of cities across the country to show the impact of the Latino community. In Atlanta on Monday, an estimated 50,000 demonstrators waved flags and marched, holding signs that read: "Americans said 'Land of the Free.' Show us!"

 

Chambliss said his proposal would overhaul the federal government's certification system for temporary or seasonal agricultural laborers, which he said has become far too cumbersome.

 

Instead, he said, the department should require documents with high-tech identifiers. And he said the immigrants' employers should have to verify the work authorization of all domestic workers.

 

That way, he said, the system would be more "farmer-friendly" while insuring a steady flow of workers.