Posted on 04/12/2007 9:42:14 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - The terms of the immigration debate have turned less friendly for illegal immigrants as lawmakers and the Bush administration struggle to reach a deal in the next few weeks.
The landscape for an immigration overhaul has turned upside down in only a year, with a different party in control of Congress and new political realities for President Bush and the chief congressional negotiators.
Bush — in search of a domestic legacy — has morphed from cheerleader on the sidelines to broker in the fray, dispatching Cabinet members for lengthy daily meetings with senators on Capitol Hill.
Last year's GOP point man, Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record) — whose moderate stance on immigration defined last year's approach — is hanging back, wary of angering conservatives while he struggles to keep his presidential run going.
And while Republican divisions were highlighted last year, this time it's Democrats — eager to show they can lead — whose fissures are on display.
In an ironic twist, the outlines of a potential deal have moved to the right — toward a more difficult road to citizenship for the nation's roughly 12 million illegal immigrants — even as the power in Congress has shifted to Democrats, who overwhelmingly favor a more permissive approach.
The White House has floated a proposal that would require illegal immigrants to pay fines as high as $10,000, face long waits and return to their home countries in order to be eligible for citizenship — far tougher conditions than in a bipartisan measure passed by the Senate last year and backed by Bush. The immigrants also would be denied a right to bring family members to the United States.
A bipartisan House measure introduced earlier this year would add a new mandate that undocumented immigrants go home before gaining legal status — a requirement that many Democrats and pro-immigrant groups have decried as "report to deport."
The changes reflect a new political calculus for Republicans, who fear that any plan passed by the centrist Senate will become more permissive toward immigrants in the more liberal House and during final Democratic-dominated negotiations.
Democrats, in turn, recognize that any immigration plan must have substantial GOP support in order to have a chance of being signed into law, so they are considering tougher measures. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif., has told Bush he must deliver 70 Republican votes before she will attempt to pass any immigration bill.
The White House said the proposal floated recently was part of an effort to find an immigration plan the president's party could agree on.
"Those were discussion points on which consensus was beginning to build among Republican senators," said Scott Stanzel, a White House spokesman.
As Sen. Edward Kennedy (news, bio, voting record), D-Mass., his party's point man on the issue, huddles with Republicans and Bush's team in search of a deal, other Democrats are impatient to pitch their own, more immigrant-friendly plan. Many advocates of an overhaul, including immigrant advocacy groups, business interests and organized labor, are adamantly opposed to the framework under discussion.
"This is the kind of gut-wrenching moment that happens before a deal is about to be cut and before legislation is about to start moving," said Angela Kelley, the deputy director of the National Immigration Forum, a private group pushing for an overhaul.
Bush and Democrats regard the tricky issue as one of their few areas of potential compromise during a year dominated by partisan clashes on the Iraq war. Strategists in both parties say the 2006 elections — which punished many vocally anti-immigration candidates — showed that voters support action on the issue.
But the clock is ticking on attempts to compromise, with the Senate set to debate immigration next month and most insiders seeing August as a deadline for action by both chambers.
"There are plenty of Democrats who would rather just walk away and say the Republicans are racist, and the Hispanics will vote for us, and then we'll do something" after the 2008 elections, said Tamar Jacoby, an immigration expert at the conservative Hudson Institute who has consulted with the White House and Republicans on the issue.
Last year's effort collapsed as House Republicans revolted against the Senate-passed measure, calling it amnesty. They rejected Bush's call for a "comprehensive" deal that included both a temporary guest worker program for new arrivals and a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants already here. Many conservative Republicans, particularly in the House, still are adamantly opposed to any such measure.
Now GOP leaders have tapped Sen. Jon Kyl (news, bio, voting record) of Arizona, one of those who hung back from the comprehensive approach amid a tough re-election fight, to lead negotiations on a compromise.
McCain's office, meanwhile,denies that he has scaled back his once-prominent role.
"The more members that are involved the better, but he is thoroughly engaged and totally committed to finding a solution," said Eileen McMenamin, McCain's spokeswoman.
Privately, senators in both parties and strategists on the issue say he has faded from the forefront of immigration negotiations — leaving his staff to track them and a confidant, Sen. Lindsey Graham (news, bio, voting record) of South Carolina, to mediate — while he waits for the right moment to weigh in.
"He'll be there if they emerge with a bipartisan bill — he'll be there standing with everyone else — but it didn't pay for him to be the lonely guy," Jacoby said.
Clearly the book (that is there to be thrown selectively) needs to be edited.
Thanks for the examples, but I want some good ones to break, like fraud or breaking and entering.
What can you expect? He thinks that borders should be uniters, not dividers. : /
The basic problem with deporting the illegals is that
US unemployment is low low low.
The stock market is high.
Govt. tax revenue at all levels are high.
The federal budget deficit as a percent of gdp is low.
The state and local govts. are mostly in pretty good shape.
The US crime rate is near 20 year lows.
Convincing people that deporting the illegals will make unemployment even lower, stock market higher, increase tax revenue, decrease govt. spending, and decrease crime even more, THAT IS A TOUGH SELL.
2. Deport anyone born or raised in California. ;-)
The status quo is acceptable to you? at what costs to ordainary folks across the nation who are law-abiding and do go thru the process to migrate legally.
It’s a mess, any way ya cut it, imo.
Do you support the latest pass at comprehensively reforming immigration?
Regarding immigration, Bush is merely an errand monkey for the establishment.
HEY!!!
I can’t help where I was born!!! You’ll lose a fellow Fredhead.
... and deal with ANCHOR BABIES as well as making it a FELONY to enter the US illegally!
Ha-ha, you nerd! ;-)
So, we’re a nation of laws—unless letting people break it benefits the country?
Why would I use the argument that deporting the illegals would benefit the economy when the argument that “they’re breaking the law and don’t belong here” should suffice?
For the record, I’m not against temporary work visas. It’s just that if the road to citizenship doesn’t go through Mexico first, it’s amnesty.
EDIT on last post. Please substitute “economy” for “country” in the first sentence.
First, they need to stop with this LIE! IIRC, in January of 2006 Teddy K said 20 million on a Sunday talk show. That of course was not pounded 24/7 and vanished down the black hole.
Then, right after the '06 elections everyone was using the 20 million figure. US citizens must have started yelling so they immediately went back to the "comfortable" 12 million figure. Liars all! If they say 20, then there is surely 30-40 million here, just as some reports have stated.
Same ol bull$hit, same ol song and dance!
They have another chance on the communist holiday celebration May 1st.
I think the US does want a migrant worker/non citizen class to do a lot of jobs like farm worker, cleaning lady, chicken processing, etc.
I think the ideal solution is a guest worker program with no citizenship and no non emergency benefits.
EXACTLY!
To GWB: OBL >> GOP
“Then, right after the ‘06 elections everyone was using the 20 million figure. US citizens must have started yelling so they immediately went back to the “comfortable” 12 million figure. Liars all! If they say 20, then there is surely 30-40 million here, just as some reports have stated.”
Yep!
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