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H. Douglas Barclay gained an up-close understanding of the complexities surrounding the immigration debate while serving for three years as the United States ambassador to El Salvador. Now the Central New York Republican has returned home, where he supports President Bush's call for sweeping immigration reforms.

Although the president and Democratic leaders in the Senate made a fragile compromise on an immigration reform bill, the measure was thwarted Thursday night by a small group of conservative Republicans who oppose the measure. Congressional leaders and Bush say the issue is far from dead, and could be reconsidered in a matter of weeks.

The issue already has spilled over into a Republican presidential debate in which only Sen. John McCain, of Arizona, defended the bipartisan bill. The measure would grant legal status to an estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants. he bill also would have set up a temporary guest worker program, tightened border security and made it tougher for employers to hire illegal workers.

Those changes would have a big impact on El Salvador, in Central America, which has a population of almost 7 million people in an area about the size of Massachusetts. More than one-third of its citizens have sought a better life in the United States, Barclay said.

Those Salvadorans who live and work in the United States are a major source of income to their country, sending back $2.5 billion in 2005, an increase of 21 percent over the previous year, according to federal estimates.

Barclay, 74, a former state senator from Oswego County and lawyer in the Syracuse firm of Hiscock & Barclay, returned to the United States in January.

Here's what he said last week about immigration reform and the relationships he helped build between Central New York and El Salvador. What is important for Congress to know about immigration issues? The biggest issue in El Salvador is that many of the young people have left and immigrated to the U.S., some legally and some illegally. There are about 2.5 million immigrants and about 700,000 undocumented. We thought about 740 migrated per day from El Salvador to the United States. Of those, about 40 are apprehended at the Texas border and sent back. But we don't know where the others are.

The issue is that the economic situation is such in El Salvador that 70 percent of the Salvadorans want to come to the United States. This affects the economy there very substantially. Many of the very productive workers have left. Other than getting a better job and better life for their family, they don't necessarily want to leave. This is true for all of Central America, and to a certain extent Brazil. It's sort of a historic migration. They're doing it for a better life and economic reasons.

In order to halt that, it seems to me you have to get the GDP (gross domestic product) of El Salvador up so people don't want to leave, and some people would want to come back to El Salvador. The United States is running daily flights back to El Salvador for those who have been apprehended with criminal records in the United States.

I don't know what is going to happen as far as Congress goes. But it's a very bad situation not only for El Salvador, but for the United States. It's putting a burden on everyone. There's no easy solution. It seems to me, and I'm talking as a private citizen, there are 12 million in undocumented in the United States. It's a very difficult problem with no easy solution. The president is trying to come up with a program that will be helpful. Something has got to be done. I think you have to solve these things in the country (where immigrants come from) by increasing the quality of life. Basically it comes down to jobs.

As the ambassador, what connections did you encourage between Central New York and El Salvador to help improve the quality of life? There have been a lot of church groups that have come down, particularly the Episcopal Church. I'm always amazed to find out how many people are coming down there. For example, the dean of the School of Architecture at Syracuse University went down with a group.

JetBlue was down with a group they call "ambassadors." They fly their planes down empty to be serviced. So three or four times a year they send planes down with food, toys and that kind of thing. On one of these flights they brought down a group of architects and engineers to look at the 27,000 houses that were built by the United States for nothing after the earthquake of 2001. More than 200,000 houses were destroyed. Welch Allyn (a Skaneateles medical equipment company) comes down and brings medical supplies and drugs.

I just want to promote the country, and the people, and let people know it's a great country to do business in. What don't most people in the United States know about El Salvador?

If it isn't the country that has the best relationship with the U.S., it's in the top two or three. They are very pro-American. It's more than a bilateral relationship. It's almost a partnership. There are one million Salvadorans in Los Angeles. And it's a partnership because there are families in both countries. They go back and invest in real estate in El Salvador.

This country (El Salvador) in my opinion can be the Switzerland of Europe in the Western Hemisphere. They have a great work force. They work very hard, they're very bright, and it's a great country. There are number of American companies operating there. For example, Dell set up a call center that employs about 1,500 people. They sell and give customer advice to customers in the United States and Latin America. That shows you the ability they have to do a technical job and learn a second language to do it.

What do you think of the future of U.S.-Central American relations and the role of El Salvador?

When I got there, I think the bilateral relations between the United States and El Salvador were good, and when I left I think they were very good or better.

It's the only other country in the Western Hemisphere that has troops in Iraq. I went there (to Iraq) over Christmas to visit (Salvadoran troops), and morale was very good. Iraq is very appreciative of the Salvadoran participation.

The country has a very stable government, a good democracy and a very business-friendly government. But it is a very violent country. It is the most violent country in the Western Hemisphere. And they have to resolve that issue. We worked on this very seriously the last six months I was there. The country has had a very violent past, and the (civil) war, which ended in 1992, was extremely violent. I think some of that has gotten into the culture. The United States is helping. I met both with the attorney general and the FBI to make them aware of the situation. We are also giving great support to the national police on this.

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