Immigration reform--uniting blacks and immigrants.(q & a)

If you listen to President George Bush, the only way Mexicans can avoid the deadly and illegal trip across the U.S. border is to come as guest workers--temporary contract laborers for U.S. industry and agriculture. The 8-14 million immigrants already living in the U.S. without visas, he says, must become guest workers themselves if they want to get legal documents.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

While the president's proposal is the most extreme of those before Congress (and hasn't yet been formally introduced), all the other bills that would reform U.S. immigration law also have some temporary contract worker proposal attached to them. All except one.

In March, Houston Congress member Sheila Jackson Lee introduced the most comprehensive immigration reform proposal so far. It has no provision for temporary workers--she scorns the whole idea, particularly the Bush approach, as a "flat earth program."

Jackson Lee instead proposes to legalize undocumented people who have lived five years in the U.S., have a basic understanding of English and U.S. culture, and have no criminal record. "These are hardworking, taxpaying individuals," she says. "My system would give them permanent legal residency."

Bush proposes that immigrants come for three or six years, and then leave. "But people are human," Jackson Lee explains. "They might have married, invested, or tried to buy a house. They might have children and roots here. It's very difficult to imagine that a person with a three-year pass would voluntarily leave, particularly if they faced an oppressive situation where they came from."

The Jackson Lee bill is unique for another reason. Its cosponsors are nine members of the Congressional Black Caucus, including California's Barbara Lee and Michigan's John Conyers. For many years the Caucus has been outspoken on other areas of social policy. This is the first time, however, Caucus members have taken a pro-active approach to immigration.