WASHINGTON - America is a land of immigrants, and official Washington mirrors their struggles and successes.

While the halls of Congress echo with a political battle over immigration laws, the sons, daughters and grandchildren of immigrants sit at the Cabinet table with President Bush — Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao and Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta.

Other members of first and second generation immigrant families serve throughout the administration and in Congress.

Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., recalled how his mother, an illegal Italian immigrant, was whisked away from their home in Albuquerque in 1943 by federal agents seeking Italian sympathizers.

"It turned out that was unknown to all of us, because we didn't know that she was an illegal alien," Domenici said. "So I understand how all of this works in terms of a family and family roots."

She was later released and became a U.S. citizen.

The father of Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, fled Russia as a young man and became a U.S. citizen. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., is the son of a Kenyan-born father and an American mother.

Obama, Domenici, and Specter worked on the collapsed Senate compromise to provide an easier path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.

In the House, meanwhile, Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., whose father emigrated from Italy early in the 20th century, was among the most vocal critics of such an approach. He was a main drafter of the tough House-passed bill.