Democrats introduce immigration reform bill

House Democrats, including many Californians, introduced a comprehensive immigration bill today. The measure will be taken up early next year.

The House hearing room was packed with immigration activists, clergy, and dozens of children wearing T-shirts that read: "I will be a voter."

Eighty-seven Democrats are co-sponsoring the immigration reform measure, including Congressman Mike Honda, D-San Jose.

It's been over 20 years and this is the time, Honda said.

"We have to do it now," he said. "It's like the young people back there saying, 'Si, se puede.' And I say, 'It's ABOUT time.' It's about time.'"

The bill beefs up border security and creates a worker verification system. Republicans like Brian Bilbray of San Diego are likely to support both.

Bilbray heads the conservative House Immigration Reform Caucus. He disagrees with another part of the bill that grants "conditional non-immigrant status" to undocumented immigrants, something that could eventually lead to citizenship.

Bilbray says that just encourages the next wave of undocumented immigrants to cross the border.

"The message that's being sent with these accommodations for illegal immigration is that American's really is not opposed to illegal immigration," he said. "You can't reward an illegal act and then expect people to think you really don't want to do it."

Democrats and Republicans do agree on the need for a steady supply of agricultural workers.

Congressman Sam Farr, D-Santa Cruz, said there's a guest worker program built into the bill that would have helped farmers in his district last year.

"Think about the fruit and nut tree industry, in which you harvest the trees when they're ready," he said. "You cannot wait around. The fruit falls off. And these were pear orchards in Northern California that couldn't take anything to market 'cause they didn't have the workers."

But again, the bill offers a pathway to citizenship for these agricultural guest workers, something Bilbray and most other Republicans won't vote for.

"That is not a guest worker. A guest worker is a guest. This is an adoption program," Bilbray said.

Two years ago - the last time Congress tried to pass comprehensive immigration reform - the national unemployment rate in the United States was less than 5 percent. It's more than double that today, which could make passing an immigration measure even more difficult.

The Senate will likely tackle the issue first, with a bipartisan bill expected to be introduced after the first of the year.