From NY Post:

ALIEN DEAL CUTS 7.5M ILLEGALS A BREAK

By IAN BISHOP and GEOFF EARLE Post Correspondents

April 7, 2006 -- 5 YEARS IN U.S. AND THEY CAN STAY
WASHINGTON - Senate leaders yesterday brokered a sweeping election-year immigration reform deal that gives millions of illegals a path to citizenship - and sets up a potentially bruising showdown with the get-tough House.

The bipartisan agreement offers the approximately 7.5 million illegal immigrants who've been here at least five years the possibility of naturalization under certain conditions, while some newer arrivals will be shown the door.

"We've had a huge breakthrough," said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.).

Illegals who have been here two to five years - estimated at about 3 million - would be forced to exit the country and reapply for a work visa so they could return.

They could do that by reporting to one of several U.S. border entry checkpoints for a supervised hop back across the border - and then they'd be permitted to re-enter and apply for citizenship.

Those who've been here five years or longer would have to pass security checks, know English, pay all back taxes and a $2,000 fine, among other things.

After six more years, they could then apply for citizenship without leaving the country.

The 1.5 million illegals who have been here less than two years are the losers in the deal. They would have to return home without assurances of coming back and take their place in line with millions of others seeking legal entry.

The last-minute deal - thrown together so quickly that all of its provisions were not yet on paper - ends nearly two weeks of fiery floor rhetoric and backroom dealings.

A decision to reduce the number of future temporary workers allowed into the country broke a deadlock that threatened as late as Wednesday night to scuttle efforts to pass a bill. The change will limit temporary work permits to 325,000 a year, down from 400,000 in earlier versions of the bill.

To secure the border, the bill calls for a virtual fence - as opposed to the literal barrier contained in House legislation - consisting of surveillance cameras, sensors and other monitoring equipment along the long, porous border with Mexico.

President Bush, who wants tougher border enforcement and a guest worker program, urged lawmakers "to work hard to get the bill done."

Moments after trumpeting the agreement alongside Frist, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) warned that it could fall apart if it gets watered down or twisted prior to a vote, which could come soon.

"My concern is not so much the four corners of the compromise, but to make sure that it's not dramatically diluted," Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y) told The Post.

Republican House leaders, who already approved a measure that toughens up the border and cracks down hard on illegals already here, are readying for battle when House-Senate brokers merge the deal.

"Basically, they're rewarding illegal conduct. No matter how you define it, it allows illegals to stay in the country. I think it's going to be very difficult to sell this deal or anything similar to it," said House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King (R-L.I.).

As conservatives bemoaned the agreement, supporters like Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) were seeking guarantees that House conservatives wouldn't rewrite the compromise in negotiations. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton was noncommittal about the compromise. "I don't know what's in it yet," she said.

New York's Latino leaders are planning a pro-immigrant rally on the steps of City Hall for Monday.

"It seems like for those who have been here for two years or less, we're going to have a problem - they won't go back to their countries," said Eduardo Giraldo, president of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Queens.

Meanwhile, a new Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll shows 36 percent of Americans back the dual plan of beefing up the border and dealing with the illegals already here.

Additional reporting by Douglas Montero