COUNCIL ENDORSES SB 1645.

Byline: CHRIS WEINKOPF

A mere 10 days after the recall election, Los Angeles City Council President Alex Padilla sent a letter to Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger. There were no words of congratulation, nor even a predictable plea for more local funding from Sacramento.

Instead, the letter was about a federal issue with profound local repercussions: the nation's woefully broken immigration laws.

There hasn't been anything close to a constructive, national debate on immigration since 1986. As a result, the discussion has largely been left to the extremes - the build-a-wall, deport-them-all nativists on one side, and the open-borders, damn-the consequences unrealists on the other.

Absent has been a push for restoring immigration policies that enable America to become, once again, a land of opportunity for all who want to come and contribute, while protecting itself from terrorists and others out to exploit its freedoms and generosity.

Padilla's letter was one of several hopeful signs that, at long last, politicians are giving the issue a thoughtful look. The letter's purpose was to sell Schwarzenegger on SB 1645, a bipartisan bill working its way through Congress that's won the unanimous backing of the City Council.

Not that the bill offers anything close to the comprehensive sort of reform that's needed. It's both too stingy and too generous, and it's hobbled with the language of political correctness. Still, it's an improvement, if for no other reason than it marks the reopening of a long-ignored debate.

SB 1645 would grant work permits and, ultimately, green cards to some 500,000 illegal immigrants working in America's agricultural industry. It would require the farmworkers to submit to finger-printing and background checks - a must in the post 9-11 world - while offering protection from exploitation and the long-term hope of better working conditions.

The legislation has the backing of the agricultural industry, which wants access to cheap labor, as well as the unions, which want access to more members. Without the pressure of these two big-spending lobbies, SB 1645 - the brainchild of Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy, Nebraska Republican Sen. Larry Craig and Rep. Howard Berman, D-Van Nuys - would probably never have seen the light of day.

And that's part of the problem.

There are roughly 10 million illegal immigrants in America, most of whom haven't attracted the attention of powerful interests but whose undocumented status poses a threat to their own safety as well as that of the nation. SB 1645 deals with maybe 5 percent of the illegal immigrant population and makes no provision for future migration.

It's a Band Aid, at best, on the festering sore of an immigration policy that provides an open door to terrorists, overwhelms public-service programs and offers no rational hope of legalization to millions of otherwise law-abiding, contributing residents who are here to stay.

Then there's the political correctness.

SB 1645, like the City Council's resolution in support of it, never actually mentions the word ``illegal.'' Those who have entered this nation without honoring its borders or its laws are merely ``foreign agricultural workers'' - a nod to ethnic lobbies that see the ``illegal'' tag as stigmatizing.

That little bit of hypersensitivity does a disservice to the emerging immigration debate. Sensible immigration reform must offer a rational process for legalization while imposing a reasonable penalty for breaking the law that others have sacrificed to honor, even if it's a law that's obsolete and widely unenforced.

Sensible reform must also include some obligations on those who would receive legal status, such as a requirement to learn English and be financially self-sufficient. It must be complete, appealing not just to a few politically significant constituencies. And it must include real consequences for failing to comply.

SB 1645 obviously falls short on all fronts, but it's progress. It may also be a precursor to another Kennedy bill that's reportedly in the offing, this one co-sponsored by Nebraska Republican Chuck Hagel, that would reportedly offer legalization to illegal immigrants paying taxes and learning English - in exchange for a $1,000 fine.

Now that's a good step closer to a comprehensive policy. Padilla, Schwarzenegger and all the rest would be wise to take notice.