Sen. John Sununu yesterday voiced strong opposition to the compromise immigration plan unveiled last week by the Bush administration and senators of both parties.

Sen. Judd Gregg spoke favorably about several aspects of the plan, but said that since he had not yet read the 326-page bill fully, he has not formally decided whether to support it.

Gregg said debate should go forward in the Senate, but not rushed.

"This should stay on the floor and be debated and amended for a least a couple of weeks, if not three or four weeks," Gregg said.

But fellow Republican Sununu said he would oppose opening debate in a vote scheduled for late yesterday. He said a more limited bill, focusing on security, should be considered and passed before lawmakers try to reform how the government deals with illegal immigrants.

Sununu recalled his opposition to last year's plan, and said, "I still have some strong concerns."

He said the new bill "allows anyone who is here illegally as of January 2007 to remain in the country. It doesn't require any of those illegal immigrants to return to their homelands.

"It doesn't matter what you call it," he said. "It's a problem, and if you allow anyone who is here illegally to remain in the country, you run the risk of encouraging others to break the law in the future. The effort to implement a new visa program and deal with 12 million new immigrants is going to put pressure on a system that should be focusing on helping those who have played by the rules."

Sununu said the bill "allows an exceptionally large number of permanent visas to be issued," he said. A proposed new "Z visa" would be "given specifically to those who have been in the country illegally, and it can be renewed indefinitely. They have to pay $1,000 and don't have to apply for that outside of the country. They don't have to return to a port of entry or their home country to do that.

"To require all 12 million illegal immigrants to return home is unreasonable," Sununu said. "But I think that many, if not most, could do so without difficulty."

He said the bill contains "no limit to the number of those who are here illegally, no limit to the number of Z visa' holders who could apply for a green card, for permanent residency. There should be some limit, some cap, to the green cards issued."

Sununu also noted that "there is no assurances that the good provisions in the legislation, such as background checks or the requirement that enforcement mechanisms be in place before the visa program began, would remain in the final package." He said the "liberal Democratic leadership in the House seems determined to pull the border security background checks and enforcement component out of the legislation."

Sununu said a "more limited bill," dealing only with security and enforcement, will have a better chance of passage. Illegal immigration could then be dealt with separately, Sununu said.

Gregg called the bill "extremely complex" and said he will consider potential "unintended consequences" before taking a formal position. He favored similar legislation last year.

"First," he said, "our borders must be secure before anything else happens." The bill calls for hundreds of miles of new fence with high-tech surveillance.

"We also have to have a secure way for people who come to this country to be employed," said Gregg. "An employer has to know who he is hiring is legally here. We must have a guest worker program that works. We have to deal with people who are here illegally."

Gregg said illegal immigrants should not be granted amnesty, "but we should make it possible for them to work here with a long road to become citizens by paying back taxes, fines and social security."

Gregg spoke favorably of the bill's new merit system for future immigration. It would change the selection system from one based on family connections to one based on the skills and attributes the immigrants would bring to the United States.

Future immigrants applying for permanent residency would be assigned points for skills, education and other attributes "that further our national interest," according to U.S. Department of Homeland Security press release issued last week.

Gregg said, "I think we should start looking to encourage people who are bright and capable and have the skills we need to come to this country. They create jobs.

"We should end the lottery system and put 50,000 visas toward putting skilled people on a path to coming here by having points for having skills and the education levels that reflect the needs of this country.

"I will take a hard look at the bill and judge it by those guidelines," Gregg said.

Gregg rejected forecasts that Senate will act on the bill perhaps as early as this week.

"I don't see any way that could possibly happen," he said. "If that were to happen, it would be a big mistake on such a complex issue."