Here are the features of the bill, which was drafted by the office of Teddy Kennedy: 

Urging the hiring of 1,000 more Border Patrol agents this year and 14,000 by 2011.

Endorsing Bush’s plan for a short-term deployment of National Guard troops to states along the border with Mexico.

Calling for the construction of 370 miles of fencing on the border.

The guest worker program would admit 200,000 individuals a year. They eventually could apply for a green card, which confers legal permanent residency.

A separate program envisions admission of an estimated 1.5 million immigrant farm workers who also may apply for permanent residency

For illegal immigrants, those in the country for five years could stay, keep working and eventually apply for citizenship. They would have to pay at least $3,250 in fines and fees, settle back taxes and learn English.

Illegal immigrants in the country for more than two years but less than five would have to travel to a point of entry before re-entering the United States legally and beginning the lengthy process of seeking citizenship.

An immigrant in the country illegally for less than two years would be required to leave with no guarantee of return.

Here’s my problem with the amnesty provisions.  The Senate depends on the illegal alien, the person who broke the law, to come clean and truthfully inform the government of how long they have resided here.  Yeah, right.  Many of these aliens already have fraudulent documents, so obtaining “proof” that they have been in the U.S. for more than five years should be no problem.  In other words, this might as well be amnesty for the lot of them.