Posted on 12/27/2004 9:23:23 AM PST by calcowgirl
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush faces a major rebellion within his own party if he follows through on a promise to push legislation that would offer millions of illegal immigrants a path to U.S. citizenship. Almost no issue divides Republicans as deeply.
To get the guest-worker initiative through Congress, Bush will need to go against the wishes of many Republicans and forge bipartisan alliances. That's what President Clinton did in 1993 to win approval for a free trade agreement with Mexico and Canada, over objections of a large bloc of congressional Democrats.
The chance seems slim for finding common ground between those in favor of liberalized immigration laws - Bush, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for example - and those who want fewer immigrants, tougher border controls and harsher penalties.
Opposition is strongest among House Republicans.
"In our party, this is a deep division that is growing deeper every minute," says Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo. He heads a group of 70 lawmakers who are against easing immigration laws.
Tancredo said Bush's guest-worker proposal is "a pig with lipstick" and will not pass.
Bush asserts that he won valuable "political capital" in the election and intends to spend it. It is not clear how much of that he is willing to spend on the immigration measure.
Higher on his list of priorities is overhauling the Social Security system, rewriting the tax laws, limiting lawsuit judgments, and making his first-term tax cuts permanent.
An estimated 10 million immigrants live in the United States illegally; the vast majority are from Mexico, with an additional million arriving every year.
A hint of the trouble ahead for Bush on immigration came this month when proposals to tighten - not ease - border restrictions nearly undermined a bill to restructure U.S. intelligence agencies.
The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee wanted the measure to bar states from giving a driver's license to illegal immigrants. Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., said some of the Sept. 11 hijackers gained access to U.S. aircraft by using a driver's license as identification.
Sensenbrenner ultimately backed down, but only after House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill, promised that the chairman's proposal would be considered in separate legislation in 2005.
Hastert also indicated he would not move ahead on major legislation unless it was supported by a majority of Republicans in the GOP-controlled House - and that he would not rely on Democratic support to pass a bill.
Immigration overhaul is "an issue that splits both parties, and given the new Hastert rule, may never go anywhere," said William A. Niskanen, chairman of the libertarian Cato Institute. Niskanen was a member of President Reagan's Council of Economic Advisers.
The president's plan would grant temporary-worker status, for three years to six years, to millions of undocumented workers. It also would it easier for those workers to get permanent U.S. citizenship.
As governor of Texas, Bush was committed to immigration changes. As president, he came close to making a deal with Mexican President Vicente Fox in the days before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Those plans were put on hold as tighter borders took on a higher priority for the United States.
As a presidential candidate, both in 2000 and 2004, Bush eagerly courted Hispanics, the fastest-growing ethnic group in the electorate.
"We will keep working to make this nation a welcoming place for Hispanic people, a land of opportunity para todos (for all) who live here in America," Bush told the League of United Latin American Citizens last summer.
Bush claimed 35 percent of Hispanic voters in 2000 and at least 40 percent last Nov. 2, according to exit polls. That compares with the 21 percent won by Bob Dole in 1996 and the 25 percent that Bush's father got in 1992.
Republican consultants suggest Bush will not make a big push for his immigration bill until he has achieved his goals on Social Security and the tax laws. They also say the president may jettison the immigration bill if it would jeopardize other parts of his agenda.
Inside the administration, nobody is suggesting that passing the immigration plan would be anything other than extremely difficult.
"We don't want to overpromise," Secretary of State Colin Powell said during a visit last month to Mexico City.
EDITOR'S NOTE — Tom Raum has covered Washington for The Associated Press since 1973, including five presidencies.
Unfortunately, this means that good immigration reform, like sending illegal aliens back and real border control will go by the wayside in this administration. Hopefully, the next one will feel free to tackle this issue. Legal Hispanics benefit when illegals are minimized.
This is all based on the idea of filling "jobs that Americans don't want to do". You can put that problem right back to a welfare system that encourages able bodied slackers not to work at any job.
I'm curious as to how Mexico deals with immigration? Is Vicente Fox as generous in regards to this in his country?
My wife arrived from Colombia and endured 10 years of paperwork and waiting before she became a citizen finally. I stand in outrage against this travesty of justice with immigration laws.
By "Go Tancredo" I meant "GO" in his position to have our immigration and border security laws beefed up and/or enforced before giving in to President Bush's request for this "guest worker" program.
"Opposition is strongest among House Republicans."
No, opposition is strongest by the majority of Americans. GWB, for the life of me I cannot understand, is totally clueless about this issue.
Illegal aliens are destroying our country, period. They weaken the fabric of this country and contribute to lawlessness.
Although I campaigned for GWB, I will campaign against his program as much as I can.
Tancredo says: The immigration reform bill that comes out of Congress will be worse than the Bush plan
Here is one posting:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1308365/posts
Until immigration laws and border security are truly enforced, any guest worker program further undermines our national and economic security.
Well you sure put that muy grande culata out for everybody to see.
Oh BTW, you do know that hillary is flashing her grande culata to you all knee jerkers, and many on FR are more than willing to kiss it.
Chigago is a joke of an AP to be in a civilized country.
It operates like it's managed by dope-heads.
Their "security" is laughable because suppliers of vendors in the concourses have access to unchecked aircraft handling areas supposedly reserved for AC handlers. There should never be plane handlers and vendor suppliers with cross-access in terminal areas.
Go Try This, Go Ahead - I Dare You! If you have a Death Wish!
Enter Mexico illegally. Never mind immigration quotas, visas, international law, or any of that nonsense.
Once there, demand that the local government provide free medical care for you and your entire family.
Demand bilingual nurses and doctors.
Demand free bilingual local government forms, bulletins, etc. Procreate abundantly.
Deflect any criticism of this allegedly irresponsible reproductive behavior with,"It is a cultural United States thing. You would not understand, pal."
Keep your American identity strong. Fly Old Glory from your rooftop, or proudly display it in your front window or on your car bumper.
Speak only English at home and in public and insist that your children do likewise.
Demand classes on American culture in the Mexican school system.
Demand a local Mexican driver license. This will afford other legal rights and will go far to legitimize your unauthorized, illegal, presence in Mexico.
Insist that local Mexican law enforcement teach English to all its officers.
Good luck! You'll be demanding for the rest of time or soon dead. Because it will never happen.
It will not happen in Mexico or any other country in the world... Except right here. Land of the naive.
God Bless America--She needs it.
Thanks. I searched for it, but with everchanging AP titles, it is difficult to find them sometimes.
However, I do note that it was 48 hours ago, not 10 minutes ;-)
The worst part about the proposed program is that it will not work. Employers will continue to pay these people off the books. These wonderful creatures will continue to send money overseas and will continue to refuse to learn English and will continue to undermine America.
Bush faces GOP fight over illegal workers.
There, that gives an honest appraisal of the story. It is amazing how a little sugar coating effects the meaning and slant of the same story.
One of the best posts I have seen.
You forgot though:
Try to stand on a corner interferring with traffic and run up to cars asking to be paid wages without paying taxes to the gov't.
Huh, I guess an Iraishman or Italian sending money back to Dublin or Naples in 1906 is also the epitomie of evil.
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