Yumans call immigration bill ‘good start’

BY BLAKE SCHMIDT, SUN STAFF WRITER
May 25, 2006

Though some are calling it "amnesty" and others are concerned about last-minute amendments tacked on to the immigration reform bill passed by the Senate Thursday, many Yumans say it's about time Congress moved ahead with immigration reform.

The Senate's passage of the Immigration Reform Act of 2006 — which comes a week after President Bush made a speech in Yuma urging the Senate to pass a bill — mirrors the president's immigration reform proposal.

The legislation includes money to better secure the borders, provide a new guest-worker program and give an eventual shot at citizenship to many of the estimated 11 million to 12 million immigrants in the country illegally.

Rep. Raul Grijalva, a Democrat whose district includes Yuma County, called the bill a "step forward" from the bill recently passed by the House, which he voted against.