BICKERING ABOUT THE BORDER

It's not a homeownership plan the government will be keen to promote.

Two illegal immigrants from El Salvador took possession last week of a
70-acre Arizona ranch as part of a civil judgment against a vigilante
leader who allegedly threatened them with a gun when he caught them
sneaking into the U.S. in March 2003. The immigrants said the ordeal left
them with posttraumatic stress, a condition that seems to be spreading fast
on the Mexico-U.S. boundary.

To wit: Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano declared a state of emergency
last week because, she said, "the Federal Government has failed" to secure
the border.

Three days earlier, fellow Democratic Governor Bill Richardson of New
Mexico took the same step, which allows states to release funds for
fighting illegal immigration and drug trafficking.

Although California's G.O.P. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger called those
declarations "a terrific idea," such bipartisan--or even
intraparty--consensus is eluding leaders in Congress as they head for a
fierce debate over the issue this fall. As border-state Democrats start to
shift to the right, bucking many members of their own party, the G.O.P. is
split between those who want tougher security first and those who seek
comprehensive reform.

That split is spelled out in two competing Senate proposals: one sponsored
by Texas' John Cornyn and fellow Republican Jon Kyl of Arizona would
require illegals to leave the country to apply for work visas and would
fund 1,250 more customs and border-patrol agents and $5 billion worth of
cameras and sensors along the border.

A more lenient bipartisan plan from Arizona's John McCain and
Massachusetts' Edward Kennedy would allow illegal immigrants to apply for
"guest worker" status without returning home first.

That bill is backed by many Democrats, but the AFL-CIO is withholding support.

The White House has yet to indicate a preference, but a number of
Republican Congressmen have told the Administration that stronger
enforcement is their top priority.

House majority leader Tom DeLay says President Bush has admitted recently
in private talks that he made a mistake in how he approached the issue at
the start of the year and that he will focus more on the problem of illegal
crossings, even as he pushes for a guest-worker program. "The message,"
says Cornyn, "has been gotten." --By Terry McCarthy. With reporting by
Perry Bacon Jr. and Nancy Harbert