By Georgina Brennan

WHILE Congress was busy trying to tie up loose ends before the recess for the upcoming elections set to begin at the end of this week, several tough immigration enforcement measures tied to a Homeland Security spending bill were killed.

A congressional negotiating committee refused to support several of the House enforcement measures, including one that would encourage state and local police to enforce immigration laws more strictly, that were passed by the House last week.

The committee did pass the measure that makes the construction of border tunnels a crime, agreeing to add it to the Homeland Security bill.

The Senate is expected to debate and vote on a House bill that would mandate a 700-mile fence along the U.S.-Mexico border later this week. House Speaker Dennis Hastert has sought to make securing the border and strengthening enforcement of immigration laws a major campaign issue. Hastert and other House Republicans have said immigration reform should come as enforcement first, and a temporary worker program later.

Although earlier this year the Senate passed a bill arguing for a guest worker program that would lead to citizenship as well as enforcement, and President Bush endorsed their approach, the house refused to begin negotiations on a compromise and instead held national hearings in the summer.

The Homeland Security spending bill allocates over $21 billion to pay for enforcing immigration laws and border security including more than $28 million to fund a program that teaches state and local authorities how to enforce immigration laws.

Meanwhile, in a last ditch attempt to bring immigration back to the table before the elections, Senators Edward Kennedy and John McCain called for swift immigration reform during a press conference in Washington on Tuesday.

“There is still time in this Congress for us to enact a tough but fair immigration law,” Kennedy said during a press conference in the Senate building with religious leaders.

“These religious leaders know more than most that immigration reform is about our security, but it also must be about our humanity. There are few issues more basic to our faith than how we treat others –- not just our fellow citizens, but immigrants as well,” he added.

Kennedy, McCain and Senators Ken Salazar and Lindsey Graham joined religious leaders to discuss the status of comprehensive immigration reform and the need to finalize legislation in this Congress.

“In the last year, I have seen again and again how people of faith have illuminated the moral issues that are at the heart of the immigration debate. They know that this debate should not be about politics but about people,” Kennedy said.

“Without question, our immigration system is broken. But how we fix it has enormous implications for our national security, for our economic vitality, and for who we are as a people and as a nation. The Senators here deserve great credit for their tenacity in keeping this issue alive. We will not give up until we enact a law that is just and fair.”

Meanwhile, clearly splitting immigration reform in half, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist pressed for a Senate vote on the enforcement parts of the House bill but ignored guest worker provisions.

In a direct statement that a proper bill that includes comprehensive reform is still too hot to handle for lawmakers, on Monday, Senator Judd Gregg told the Los Angeles Times that immigration reform could probably be accomplished in a “lame duck” session (after November’s elections and before the start of the next Congress in January).

A comprehensive overhaul “is more doable in the lame duck session than it is” now because compromise is more likely after the elections, Gregg said.