Editorial: Not good enough

Tuesday, May 22, 2007 | 7:56 a.m.

Bipartisan immigration legislation is being debated by the Senate this week, but we fear it is a proposal that would create an underclass of workers and would do more to divide families than to unite them.

The legislation, introduced by senators Thursday, has some promising points, including provisions that would tighten U.S. borders and create a process for the 12 million undocumented immigrants already living in the United States to obtain legal status. But it also has many weaknesses:

People with more of those skills would have preference over those who already have family living in the United States. This element was sought aggressively by President Bush and conservative Republicans - oddly, people who have long sold themselves as honoring family values.

The point system also no longer would allow employers to sponsor immigrant workers based on the types of jobs that are available.

Making million of workers second-class citizens and dividing families are not American values. Forcing people who haven't harmed anyone to leave after they have established productive lives here doesn't accomplish anything. The Senate needs to create an opportunity for these workers to stay by coming up with a more compassionate and even-handed approach to the nation's immigration law.