By E.J. Schultz / Bee Capitol Bureau

 The California Assembly passed a resolution Monday urging President Bush and Congress to pass "compassionate" immigration reform that gives immigrants a path to citizenship.

 The resolution calls the enforcement-focused U.S. House of Representatives proposal "mean-spirited, short-sighted and anti-immigrant" and says that the Senate proposal being debated now is better but "lacks key pertinent provisions."

Assembly Joint Resolution 51 passed by a 43-27 vote with no Republican support.

Because border laws are federal laws, the resolution carries no legal weight.

Assembly Member Nicole Parra, D-Hanford, who voted yes, said, "it's just re-enforcing the importance of passing a well-reasoned approach."

Assembly Member Mike Villines, R-Clovis, disagreed, calling it a "political drill" that characterizes as an extremist anyone supporting stricter border control.

The resolution asks the president and Congress to "reject all immigration efforts that seek to criminalize an individual because of his or her immigration status," and also to defeat proposals that "view immigration policy as only a border-security issue."

Parra and Assembly Member Juan Arambula, D-Fresno, who also voted yes, conceded that the resolution might not have much of an impact in Congress. "The issue is much larger than any resolution that we might send," Arambula said.

But that's not stopping the Legislature from weighing in on the debate.

Last month, the state Senate passed a resolution supporting the May 1 boycott of schools, jobs and businesses by illegal immigrants and their supporters.

Monday's Assembly resolution was approved as some 600 immigrants of various ethnicities -- including several Valley residents -- walked the halls of the Capitol to lobby lawmakers for immigrant-friendly bills. The annual event was sponsored by the California Immigrant Welfare Collaborative.

The first stop for a group from Fresno and Visalia was Arambula's office. About 15 Mexican immigrants squeezed into the office to seek support for a bill that would allow the state to give driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.

Arambula, who supports the bill, said it would help farmworkers "who have a need to get to work and return home."

The day culminated with dancing, drum beating and speeches in a ceremony just outside the Capitol.

Making his way on stage and speaking in Hmong, 85-year-old Yong Chua Lee of Fresno urged lawmakers to avoid making changes to a state cash assistance program that he relies on for daily living.

The Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants, or CAPI, is for seniors or disabled residents who entered the country on or after Aug. 22, 1996. Current rules require that immigrants add their sponsor's income to their own income when determining eligibility. The income is added for a 10-year period, usually making the immigrant ineligible for aid.

Gov. Schwarzenegger's budget proposal would increase this "sponsor deeming" period from 10 to 15 years, saving the state $70 million by 2008-09.

The California Immigrant Welfare Collaborative calls the proposal "inhumane" and says it could lead to homelessness and hunger.

Department of Finance spokesman H.D. Palmer said the proposal is "consistent with past extensions." He also noted that an immigrant's sponsor is legally required to give financial support until the immigrant becomes a citizen.

The state created the cash-assistance program in 1998 to replace federal programs that were cut as a result of welfare reform, according to the Department of Finance. It was originally intended to last only two years, but the sunset was later lifted by the Legislature, according to the department.

Lee immigrated from Laos at age 70 to escape government persecution, he said. He gets about $820 a month from the cash-assistance program. The governor's proposal would not apply to Lee because he is a refugee, said Jay Tzerge Yang, a case manager for Fresno Interdenominational Refugee Ministries.

But Yang, who translated for Lee Monday, said there are fears that the program could be cut in other ways down the road.

The reporter can be reached at eschultz@fresnobee.com or (916) 326-5541.