In Washington, a fierce debate over immigration.

• Author: Smith, Patricia
• Position: NATIONAL - Brief article

President Bush an d Congress have been talking about immigration reform for Ill years. This spring, they came up with a compromise they hoped lawmakers with a range of views could support; instead, it came under attack from all sides.

The proposed legislation would have increased border security, cracked down on companies that hire illegal workers, established a guest-worker program, and offered a route to legal status for illegal immigrants in the U.S. It would also have changed the criteria for legal immigrations--giving preference to people with skills the U.S. needs, rather than to family of those already here, as is now the case.

The proposal drew howls from all sides: Liberate opposed changing the criteria for...