WASHINGTON — Sen. Trent Lott didn’t craft the immigration compromise under debate in the Senate.

He hasn’t even committed to voting for it. But Lott and many of his Republican colleagues are coming under fire for their roles in the bill’s progress.

Between 40 and 70 people attended a protest outside of Lott’s Jackson, Miss., office last week to “voice our frustration, disappointment and not understanding of why Sen. Trent Lott is pushing the Kennedy-Kyl bill, ” said rally organizer Rodney Hunt, president of the Mississippi Federation for Immigration Reform and Enforcement.

Hunt said he feels that Lott has “flip flopped” from opposing amnesty for illegal immigrants to using his position as the Republican whip in the Senate to advance legislation that amounts to amnesty.

Lott and his aides strenuously deny that the senator has changed his tune. In his column this week Lott specifically rejects amnesty for illegal immigrants.

“(W)e should not give them amnesty nor let them off the hook for breaking our laws.  They shouldn’t get automatic citizenship, and they shouldn’t get benefits they don’t pay for,” Lott said. “They should have to pay a fine, undergo background checks, be constantly employed and pay taxes, and go to the back of the line for citizenship papers – all required in this bill.  And if I can make these provisions even stronger, I will.”

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff made a similar point last week in a briefing with reporters, saying that the immigration bill sets out punishments for illegal immigration that are similar to other misdemeanors — paying a fine and probation.

“You don’t treat trespassing like you treat murder,” Chertoff said. “I think this is a fair way to have people pay their debt to society” and still be lenient enough to induce the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants already in America to come forward.”

Those arguments don’t hold water with Rodney Hunt.

“The penalty for illegal entry into the country is deportation,” Hunt said.

Lott and Chertoff both also argue that something needs to be done now to address illegal immigration.

“The Senate has two choices on immigration reform:  Do something now to curtail illegal immigration.  Or do nothing, accept the status quo and hope it doesn’t get worse,” Lott wrote. “I’m for doing something, but I won’t vote for an unbalanced, flawed bill.”

Lott also considers his work to advance the debate on the immigration bill to be a very different case than supporting it.

 “As a Senate leader I’m tasked with moving legislation that actually will become law.  This bill is our last hope to deal with the problem of illegal immigration,” Lott said. “It’s not everything I’d like to do, but it’s a good start.”

The bill “commands the Department of Homeland Security to certify that our border is secure, before anything else in the bill can be implemented” Lott said.

The argument that Lott is just doing his job as the second-ranking Republican in the Senate is no excuse to Hunt.

“If he sees legislation that harms the United States it’s his duty to kill it,” Hunt said, adding that Congress and recent presidents have a poor record of providing the money needed for stricter immigration requirements. “We do not have a guarantee that we’ll ever have any enforcement.”

What Sen. Lott has said:
“I told the president frankly that anything close to amnesty – where illegal immigrants would be absolved of their crime of illegally coming to America – would not get through Congress.” Sen. Trent Lott, column, June 24, 2005

“If Mexican nationals want to work in the U.S., we should set up a temporary worker program where they perform a specific job, in a specific location and require them to return home at the end of that work. This would be a better alternative to a guest worker program where these workers would receive amnesty and free passage to citizenship.” Sen. Trent Lott, column, May 5, 2006

 “The bill requires employers to verify eligibility based on a new, tamper-resistant, encrypted identification system, which would tie each worker to a specific job.  Employers would pay harsh penalties for not complying. The temporary worker program is truly temporary.  After two years, workers must go home and re-register.  No more coming here and staying forever.” Sen. Trent Lott, column, May 30, 2007