By Sylvia Maria Gross
Kansas City, MO – The US Senate seemed close to agreement on immigration legislation this week, but on Friday, a Republican compromise fell apart and Congressmen left Washington D.C. for a two-week recess. As a member of the Senate Judiciary committee, Kansas Senator Sam Brownback has played a key role in crafting the compromise bill, and getting conservative legislators on board. He told Kansas Public Radio last week that the plan will increase border security, but also provide a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who have lived in the US for more than five years.
The immigration reform bill that passed in the House of Representatives is very different. It increases penalties on illegal immigrants, and those who knowingly hire or help them. Missouri Representative Ike Skelton and Dennis Moore of Kansas were two of only 36 Democrats who approved the enforcement bill in the House, which is being called the Sensenbrener bill. Sylvia Maria Gross spoke to Representative Dennis Moore about it on Friday.
