Conferees Approve a Tough Immigration Bill  Published: September
25, 1996  House and Senate negotiators today approved an
immigration bill that stiffens border enforcement, speeds the
deportation of aliens who are criminals and restricts public
benefits to legal immigrants.  But, bowing to Democratic
pressure, Republican leaders in Congress dropped a provision to
allow states to bar children who are illegal immigrants from
public schools. That provision will be changed to exempt all
illegal immigrant children who are enrolled in school as of next
July, and will be voted on as a separate bill. Several other
measures progressed through Congress, although many included an
element of politics as well as substance. $(Page A19.$)  In a
contentious meeting at the Capitol, virtually every Democrat on
the conference committee criticized several provisions in the
immigration bill that they said would hurt legal immigrants.
Among them were provisions allowing legal immigrants to be
deported if they used more than 12 mon