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Senate Debates 'Costs' of Illegal Immigration

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The U.S. Senate is set to debate provisions that would significantly increase legal immigration levels.

The provision - part of its deficit-reduction budget reconciliation plan - comes just one week after Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist announced the Senate would not debate immigration reform until early next year.

The controversial measure would "re-capture” 90,000 unused employment-based immigration visas and exempt family members from counting toward the cap. The net result is an estimated additional 150,000 permanent legal immigrants per year, a 15 percent increase from the current level of one million legal immigrants annually.

House Republicans are not pleased with the measure, which they claim will make the budget reconciliation plan even harder to pass.

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  "This is not the time or place for controversial immigration provisions,” Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) told the Washington Times. "We’re going to need every Republican we can get to pass (the budget reconciliation bill).”

Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) - a vocal opponent of illegal immigration and proponent of tighter border security - promises to vote against the bill if it includes the immigration provision. Tancredo thinks it is inappropriate to consider immigration policy in a budget bill. "We should never be doing immigration policy inside this kind of bill,” Tancredo told the Times.

The measure is included in the budget reconciliation package because it raises the fee on employment-based visas by $500 each, raising an estimated $120 million per year. It is supported by universities, hospitals, technology companies, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Opponents claim the $120 million does not compensate for damage to American job-seekers.

Not surprisingly, the House reconciliation package steers clear of immigration, and some House members told the Times they would try to ensure the provision is not included in the final bill.

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